Why We Study Public Health ? by Carl Swanson, MPH Student, Class of 2012

SPHSA Co-Presidents Jordon Raymond and Carl Swanson at the 2011 SPH Annual Snowball. Photo: Thilina Bandara

“Heroes are ordinary men and women who dare to see and meet the call of a possibility bigger than themselves. Breakthroughs are created by such heroes, by men and women who will stand for the result while it is only a possibility – people who will act to make possibility real.” -Werner Erhard

I became quite fond of those words and frankly they help me remember why I chose to do this program and this line of work in the future. It’s no secret that Public Health Professional is the often the unseen worker behind the scenes.  This vocation more often than not renders us nameless and faceless in the public’s eye compared to the front line worker, and I don’t think anyone here expects to become a millionaire from their jobs. So the question then stands: why? It isn’t the money, and it isn’t the accolades we hope to have heaped on us for a job well done.

We do this because we genuinely care about the health of our society, and the societies beyond our borders. We do this because we need to find answers to the seemingly endless obstacles barring the way to achieving better health. We do it because we know of the impact we will have on future generations, and we do it to meet the social imperatives that everyone knows and talks about, but often do little about it. Maybe we do it because we just feel a need to make change, and get the satisfaction when the job is done, and done well even if no one recognizes it immediately. We do it because it must be done - so why not us? In our program, I believe there is too much talent, drawn from so a broad range of backgrounds and a multitude of experiences, to not be able to have a positive impact on those we care about, those close to us, and on those we have not even met but refuse to see left behind.

We are people that make our very best effort,  that have stretched to the very limit of our ability, which makes us bigger men and women and more able to stretch again: to reach even higher as we undertake new challenges.