Mission statement:

My driving force is reducing illness through prevention using healthier lifestyle habits such as improving nutrition and exercise. I believe that shifting healthcare to a preventative scope rather than reactive will benefit populations and healthcare systems nationwide. Overall, my highest priority is my work having an outcome of better quality of life for surrounding communities.

Public Health Areas of Interest:

• Nutrition and Obesity:
  • I believe our social norms have caused us to alter our diets to revolve around to easy, fast, and unhealthy daily meals. Our society no longer prioritizes preparing healthy and balanced meals for themselves or their families. There is increasing rate of obesity within the United States for adults as well as children. As we all know, obesity is a trigger for many other illness and lessens quality of life. I believe a leading factor for the increase in obesity is the lack of attention on our nations food system. There is a critical need for change and our population is in need of better nutrition standards and education, as well as the impact of making their own nutrition decisions. It is important to understand why individuals are not receiving proper nutrition and work to decrease those issues, in turn reducing obesity and aiding better quality of life.
• Healthy Community Design
  • Utilizing our open spaces in to benefit our communities is vital to becoming healthier. I have taken notice that many areas that should be concerned with obesity and unhealthy lifestyle habits do not have many options to get fresh air and exercise. Creating spaces for walking, running, and playing makes that much more of a difference to provide people and families with a safe, accessible, outlet to exercise and spend time together.
• Teen Pregnancy and Family Planning
  • In an ideal situation, people do not become parents before they evaluate whether they are truly ready to raise children. Providing educational resources having access to health care, and providing birth control is important in reducing unwanted pregnancies. Allowing a focus on family planning and reducing teen pregnancy creates for healthier, happier, and more readily equipped people to enter parenthood. Passing down these principles to the next generation aids in creating a productive and well-rounded society.

Contribution to Public Health field:

Although my professional work is very much still based around the clinical world of laboratory science, I hope to one day transfer my passion and skills to creating healthier communities. I aim to be a part of creating more accessible and beneficial outdoor community areas, helping to create better lifestyle habits through nutrition and exercise, and ultimately lowering the amount of obesity we see in our population in order to prevent further illness and healthcare spending.