Week 9:
See you later South Coast

July 28, 2019

The end of my time here is near. It feels really weird to be packing things up and preparing to leave this wonderful place. I have a plan for making sure the right people have the right files after I’m gone but I’m a little nervous about how it will all come together. Luckily I’ve been in the position of transitioning my work to someone else before, so I sort of know what to expect. A weird quirk to transferring all your files to someone else is have to re-name them so the other person knows what they will be opening/working with. For whatever reason if I have two copies of something, for instance the YRBS data I was working with, I’ll name the neater/more useful version “Real ____.” It’s helpful when I’m using the files but not so much for anyone else.

I started the week taking in all that I had left to do and parsing out when I was going to complete certain things. The objectives that were left include: finalizing the database, creating the fully functioning StoryMap, compiling all of the YRBS documents I either used or created, and submitting my abstract. Just a few to-do’s as usual.

As you may or may not have noticed, setting hard deadlines when building a database/registry is a little tricky. I want to incorporate as much information as I can into the StoryMap and final version, but due to the amount of people I’ve called, I get replies at inconsistent times. Luckily, during my absolute final round of calls I was able to explain the urgency in finding what I needed and got answers much more consistently. After finishing calls that day, it felt like a weight had been lifted – my best friend (the office phone) and I would finally be taking a break.

However, this was just one piece of the puzzle. Next, I had to take the final registry and alter it to create new versions. These versions were going to be distributed to all the various stakeholders and needed to include different things. This meant more cleaning and parsing of excel sheets, as I had left notes or included some specificities in the overall sheet that some stakeholders would not be needing. Fortunately, after doing this everything I had was ready to be transferred to the relevant parties. Additionally, my StoryMap was ready to be created. To say I’m proud of this would be an understatement. I am unable show the complete picture because the data is not public yet, but I can’t wait to show people at our closing session on the 14th.

In my last blog I mentioned that I completed my abstract. Little did I know that would be the first of six abstract drafts. Writing and re-writing those 350 words took up a substantial part of my week. I have written abstracts before for papers in classes but in this setting, it was much different. Usually when writing abstracts, I have too few words and I elongate sentences to make it more verbose. Verbosity was not going to be a problem with this abstract. How do I explain all my work this summer in 350 words or less? My supervisor and I poured over the drafts word by word spending significant time changing one or two sentences. By the middle of the week, close to the submission deadline, we had a version we both felt was the best. I submitted a day in advance and will receive comments or revisions by an epidemiologist next week.

We finished it early partially to be ahead of the deadline and partially because Thursday was going to be a packed day. Another available experience to the interns this summer was a meeting with the MDPH Bureau of Substance Abuse Services (BSAS). Unlike the other offices I visited for MDPH, this building was located in downtown Boston.

We met in a conference room for a couple hours and talked through the work they do at BSAS. This was the visit I was most looking forward to as an intern due to my interest in substance use trends and treatment strategies. It’s a topic that may turn into a senior project for me this upcoming year. Learning about the work done here and the barriers they face was intriguing. At the end of our meeting the people working at BSAS took some time to give us career advice. They spoke about their previous jobs, contract opportunities, how to choose jobs, and what options are available. Although I am a year or so away from starting either a job search or grad school, I found all of their guidance extremely helpful. Public Health is a broad field with dozens and dozens of possible paths and making sense of it on my own has been hard. Being around people who have been in my situation was wonderfully refreshing.

This week was full of goodbyes and last times. As I’ve mentioned in a few of my blogs, one of my favorite duties has been going to Memory Cafe each week. I have loved spending time with the folks facing memory loss each week even if we’re just playing a card game. A special treat for my last week was having animals brought in for the seniors to engage with. The farm that was hired brought in kittens, goats, ducks, and some other animals for the Memory Cafe to play with it. We made an announcement that it was my last time with them and many wished me well. I know some of them may not be able to remember me but I will always remember the time I was able to spend with them.

My last day in the office was spent sending my supervisor all the documents I created, what they meant, and going over any other thing she may need. I had made a few how-to documents in preparation for this day as well so she can edit and maneuver things in the same way I did. Creating the how-to documents took a lot longer than I thought and it reminded me of how privileged I am to know how to work technology in the ways I do. Although it’s tedious to write out and put pictures to every little click or edit I make, it’s absolutely necessary if I want these documents to be utilized in the same way.

After handing everything over, it was time to say goodbye. I will see my supervisor again for the closing session on the 14th, but this would be my last time in the office with her. It will probably also be my last time in Marion. From a place I had never even heard of, this South Coast community has given me an experience I’ll never forget.