Friday May 29th
Start off to Heathrow at 7:50 am on Kensington high street tube and switch at south kensington and get on to picadily line to heathrow, allow for an hour of time to get there.
Should have gotten to DC by around 6 pm, take the DC metro to whichever place I need to get to.
Unfortunately, due to weather conditions, my plane got canceled midway in Raleigh, North Carolina and I had to either sleep in the airport for a night or book myself a hotel for the night. Since I've already had the experience of sleeping in an airport terminal last summer in Chicago, I didn't want to repeat that experience again. So I booked myself into a nice hotel near the airport and fell asleep right away.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Tour of Stonehenge, Salisbury and Bath
Not in that particular order but there were some very interesting stories here.
So, I woke up very early in the morning at my hostel located in the deep neck of the words in a London park and headed off to the victoria bus station. For those of you who have not been to the bus station, it is located near the victoria tube station but not at the railroad station so be sure to add around 15minutes to your travel time once you get to the victoria station. I unfortunately missed the bus that I had bought tickets for on the internet and had to buy another ticket at a later time the last time I miscalculated the time it takes to get to the bus station by 5 minutes.
However, this time I was there bright and early and definitely got to be on the bus for the tour company's tour to Stonehenge, Salisbury and Bath. This day turned out to be the multilanguage tour day where our guide also spoke in Japanese for the Japanese tourists who were also with us.
So we set off on a day with wonderful weather for Salisbury's cathedral first. Unfortunately when we got there the cathedral is apparently under major constructions so you couldn't see all the glory and people bought postcards of how it would look once construction finished. With so many tourists I assume that the constructions was probably very much needed.
Then we went on to the highlights of the day, the famed Stonehenge. Which, after seeing it, I have to say, is not all it is cracked up to be. Anyhow, that must have been one of those days in the lows of tourist season since I got to take ample pictures of the stones alone. When you're there at the Stonehenge, they hand everyone an audio tour. I will definitely have to say that I prefer the actual guide tour to the audio tour just for the fact that the audio tours are veyr much long winded and although it has more details and such. I suppose it could be that I'm a visual rather than an auditory learner.
So then we went onto Bath, the site of an excavated Roman bath which dates back to 40 AD I believe. The site had been a temple of the goddess sulis before the Romans decided to expand it into a nice bath. There was also the Bath cathedral that was right next to the Roman baths and the village square where we saw all sorts of street entertainers. The Roman bath complex was huge and again we were handed audio tour sets. Well, here's where the funny story starts. Apparently I had misheard the guide for our bus for when to get together and when I came out of the baths the people from my bus had left. However, before I even had time to panic, another nice looking guide told me that the guide had told him that I could ride back to London on their tour bus since they were from the same company. Thus, it was indeed fortunate that their bus was running two hours late and I was able to ride back to London in their bus, which didn't have the Japanese language explanation but our guide and bus driver did tell funny stories of how the rich and famous lived here in Bath. Especially interesting was of how one time our guide saw Princess Diana when she was getting her hair done. He always joke to people and say "Hey look, there's ___(insert famous people name) and that one time it was actually true, they waved to Princess Diana and she actually waved back. Well, anyhow, I thanked God that everything turned out fine.
So, I woke up very early in the morning at my hostel located in the deep neck of the words in a London park and headed off to the victoria bus station. For those of you who have not been to the bus station, it is located near the victoria tube station but not at the railroad station so be sure to add around 15minutes to your travel time once you get to the victoria station. I unfortunately missed the bus that I had bought tickets for on the internet and had to buy another ticket at a later time the last time I miscalculated the time it takes to get to the bus station by 5 minutes.
However, this time I was there bright and early and definitely got to be on the bus for the tour company's tour to Stonehenge, Salisbury and Bath. This day turned out to be the multilanguage tour day where our guide also spoke in Japanese for the Japanese tourists who were also with us.
So we set off on a day with wonderful weather for Salisbury's cathedral first. Unfortunately when we got there the cathedral is apparently under major constructions so you couldn't see all the glory and people bought postcards of how it would look once construction finished. With so many tourists I assume that the constructions was probably very much needed.
Then we went on to the highlights of the day, the famed Stonehenge. Which, after seeing it, I have to say, is not all it is cracked up to be. Anyhow, that must have been one of those days in the lows of tourist season since I got to take ample pictures of the stones alone. When you're there at the Stonehenge, they hand everyone an audio tour. I will definitely have to say that I prefer the actual guide tour to the audio tour just for the fact that the audio tours are veyr much long winded and although it has more details and such. I suppose it could be that I'm a visual rather than an auditory learner.
So then we went onto Bath, the site of an excavated Roman bath which dates back to 40 AD I believe. The site had been a temple of the goddess sulis before the Romans decided to expand it into a nice bath. There was also the Bath cathedral that was right next to the Roman baths and the village square where we saw all sorts of street entertainers. The Roman bath complex was huge and again we were handed audio tour sets. Well, here's where the funny story starts. Apparently I had misheard the guide for our bus for when to get together and when I came out of the baths the people from my bus had left. However, before I even had time to panic, another nice looking guide told me that the guide had told him that I could ride back to London on their tour bus since they were from the same company. Thus, it was indeed fortunate that their bus was running two hours late and I was able to ride back to London in their bus, which didn't have the Japanese language explanation but our guide and bus driver did tell funny stories of how the rich and famous lived here in Bath. Especially interesting was of how one time our guide saw Princess Diana when she was getting her hair done. He always joke to people and say "Hey look, there's ___(insert famous people name) and that one time it was actually true, they waved to Princess Diana and she actually waved back. Well, anyhow, I thanked God that everything turned out fine.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Canterbury
Wednesday May 27th
Go to the yellow and green line and get to high street Kensington and look for the YHA.
London on to Canterbury from Victoria station
and visit the Tower museum and Grey friars and the cathedral at 5:30 for their evensong.
Visited Gray friars but missed their eucharist because I missed the bus and also took a river boat ride and visited the east bridge pilgrim's hospital.
Go to the yellow and green line and get to high street Kensington and look for the YHA.
London on to Canterbury from Victoria station
and visit the Tower museum and Grey friars and the cathedral at 5:30 for their evensong.
Visited Gray friars but missed their eucharist because I missed the bus and also took a river boat ride and visited the east bridge pilgrim's hospital.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
York
Monday May 25th
Just need to get to York Minster at 5:15 p.m for their evensong.
What I did:
Took a walk along the river at around 3 to get into town. Took around 2 hours and made it in time for the evensong service. Took the opportunity to light 3 candles for everyone I was praying for and also admired the architecture. The choir that sang was only visiting as the minster choir had the day off. Overall experience was great. I was still debating on whether the church would charge for visiting but I think this is a bit of the best of both world, people can still worship for free but the church upkeep can be sustained by visitor's money. The evensong was full at this church and the minister sang the prayer beautifully and psalm 119 was sang by the choir and old testament was read from numbers and the new testament from John as the two lessons.
Just need to get to York Minster at 5:15 p.m for their evensong.
What I did:
Took a walk along the river at around 3 to get into town. Took around 2 hours and made it in time for the evensong service. Took the opportunity to light 3 candles for everyone I was praying for and also admired the architecture. The choir that sang was only visiting as the minster choir had the day off. Overall experience was great. I was still debating on whether the church would charge for visiting but I think this is a bit of the best of both world, people can still worship for free but the church upkeep can be sustained by visitor's money. The evensong was full at this church and the minister sang the prayer beautifully and psalm 119 was sang by the choir and old testament was read from numbers and the new testament from John as the two lessons.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
scotland
Friday May 22rd
Went on the tour today and stopped in many places on the way. Our guide was very intriguing guy who wore a kilt with a genuine Scottish accent that should have been in a band.
Saturday May 23rd
Went exploring in the isle of Skye today.
Heard many interesting stories from our guide.
Sunday May 24th
Found out who was the real brave heart. It was actually Robert the Bruce and not William Wallace.
Folklore:
Don't break with tradition for turning his daughter to stone.
The massacre of Glen Coe, our guide told a very touching story.
Went on the tour today and stopped in many places on the way. Our guide was very intriguing guy who wore a kilt with a genuine Scottish accent that should have been in a band.
Saturday May 23rd
Went exploring in the isle of Skye today.
Heard many interesting stories from our guide.
Sunday May 24th
Found out who was the real brave heart. It was actually Robert the Bruce and not William Wallace.
Folklore:
Don't break with tradition for turning his daughter to stone.
The massacre of Glen Coe, our guide told a very touching story.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Edingburgh
Thursday May 21st
Went to Edinburgh today and explored pretty much all of the castle and went on the Royal mile. We tried going to the Holyrood palace but unfortunately that was closed for visitors due to a special event. So we went to the elephant house which was where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter on the backs of napkins and we read napkins and such. Also visited the Scottish parliament building which was made to look like leaves from the aerial view and had some very interesting architecture and we went into the debating chamber to watch the members of parliament debate some random bill.
Really wanted to go on the ghost trail and the walking tour but did not get the time. Thus, I'm going to have to drop by in Scotland again the next time that I'm in Europe.
Our hostel was amazing, it was one of the MacBackPackers hostel with a great view because it was only steps away from the hostel.
Edingburgh Castle
Hanzi and I at Edingburgh castle
My little tiger got to take a picture with this cute highland bear
I got to take a picture with the guard
On the way to Rowling's cafe shop, we took a picture with the Friar's Bobby
Went to Edinburgh today and explored pretty much all of the castle and went on the Royal mile. We tried going to the Holyrood palace but unfortunately that was closed for visitors due to a special event. So we went to the elephant house which was where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter on the backs of napkins and we read napkins and such. Also visited the Scottish parliament building which was made to look like leaves from the aerial view and had some very interesting architecture and we went into the debating chamber to watch the members of parliament debate some random bill.
Really wanted to go on the ghost trail and the walking tour but did not get the time. Thus, I'm going to have to drop by in Scotland again the next time that I'm in Europe.
Our hostel was amazing, it was one of the MacBackPackers hostel with a great view because it was only steps away from the hostel.
Edingburgh Castle
Hanzi and I at Edingburgh castle
My little tiger got to take a picture with this cute highland bear
I got to take a picture with the guard
On the way to Rowling's cafe shop, we took a picture with the Friar's Bobby
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Glasgow
Wednesday May 20th
went to Glasgow with Hanzi and visited the cathedral there in the necropolis and the museum of religion.
Got to know a bit more about all the different religions around the world and such.
Then went on to kelvingrove museum which reminded me a lot of the chicago's museum of natural science in size and scope except this one housed works from Monet, Rennoir, Rembrandt etc.
I didn't realize there were hidden meanings in dutch art and the men in armor was actually a mystery.
Outside Kelvingrove Museum
Glasgow cathedral used to be at the center
went to Glasgow with Hanzi and visited the cathedral there in the necropolis and the museum of religion.
Got to know a bit more about all the different religions around the world and such.
Then went on to kelvingrove museum which reminded me a lot of the chicago's museum of natural science in size and scope except this one housed works from Monet, Rennoir, Rembrandt etc.
I didn't realize there were hidden meanings in dutch art and the men in armor was actually a mystery.
Outside Kelvingrove Museum
Glasgow cathedral used to be at the center
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Manchester angel
May 19th
Got to Manchester all right and rode on the wheel which showed most of the city's sites.
We saw a beautiful cloud that looked like an angel and shared the story of Francis.
Tuesday May 19th
8:00-11:00
Train to Manchester
11:00-12:00
Lunch
make plans on n
what I actually did:
Got to Manchester all right and rode on the wheel which showed most of the city's sites.
We saw a beautiful cloud that looked like an angel and shared the story of Francis.
Tuesday May 19th
8:00-11:00
Train to Manchester
11:00-12:00
Lunch
make plans on n
what I actually did:
Monday, May 18, 2009
Cardiff for a day
Monday May 18th
7 am
Get up, eat, get to Victoria
8-11 am
Cardiff
11-2
Central station
get 16-25 card
get to welsh museum of life
get pastries
2-3
meet kent at TIC
ask about caerphilly and castel coch
3-4
Caerphilly castle
4-5
Caestel coch
5-6
Cardiff castle
6-7
Evensong at Llandaf cathedral
7-9
Eat and get back to Kent's
Check email, get Edinburgh host
May 18th
Headed off early morning to Cardiff, the capital of wales and managed to go to the welsh museum of life before heading over to meet with Bob who agreed to host me through couch surfers website. We walked over to his house after meeting at the tourist information center and his house is extremely hard to find, you basically have to follow a particular course in the river.
The Welsh museum of life had replicas of everything from furniture to ways of making things of the olden days. I just quickly went over the village and the castle. St. Fagan was apparently the founder of castle or something.. Have to give thanks to God for letting me have plenty time of reach he bus upon my departure form the museum.
Had a pretty long talk with Bob and he also took me around to Cardiff Bay to give me a short history of the Bay and the buildings. I really liked the Wales parliament that took transparency literally, so have a building hat was all glass with thermal heating.
The then I forget, had visiting Llandaff castle. Missed the evensong by about 40 minutes so have to do that next time.
Wandered around for a couple of hours and got back and saw a program from BBC on clouds. The stratonimbus the cumulonimbus etc.
Well, unfortunate I could only go to Cardiff bay and the Welsh museum of living life via the bus, which was free. Did a very quick run through and some videos and managed to get back at around 2 or 3 and met Bob at the Tourist information centre and walked over to his house which was a really small apartment with a couch pulled out. We had a very interesting conversation about British politics, world environment etc and watched a show about clouds appreciation. I managed to make it out to Llandaff cathedral but missed the evensong entirely because I missed the bus stop that would have connected me to it. Thus, have to go back and visit one day as I didn't get to visit any of the castles either.
Unfortunately probably also forgot my electric tooth brush here too.
7 am
Get up, eat, get to Victoria
8-11 am
Cardiff
11-2
Central station
get 16-25 card
get to welsh museum of life
get pastries
2-3
meet kent at TIC
ask about caerphilly and castel coch
3-4
Caerphilly castle
4-5
Caestel coch
5-6
Cardiff castle
6-7
Evensong at Llandaf cathedral
7-9
Eat and get back to Kent's
Check email, get Edinburgh host
May 18th
Headed off early morning to Cardiff, the capital of wales and managed to go to the welsh museum of life before heading over to meet with Bob who agreed to host me through couch surfers website. We walked over to his house after meeting at the tourist information center and his house is extremely hard to find, you basically have to follow a particular course in the river.
The Welsh museum of life had replicas of everything from furniture to ways of making things of the olden days. I just quickly went over the village and the castle. St. Fagan was apparently the founder of castle or something.. Have to give thanks to God for letting me have plenty time of reach he bus upon my departure form the museum.
Had a pretty long talk with Bob and he also took me around to Cardiff Bay to give me a short history of the Bay and the buildings. I really liked the Wales parliament that took transparency literally, so have a building hat was all glass with thermal heating.
The then I forget, had visiting Llandaff castle. Missed the evensong by about 40 minutes so have to do that next time.
Wandered around for a couple of hours and got back and saw a program from BBC on clouds. The stratonimbus the cumulonimbus etc.
Well, unfortunate I could only go to Cardiff bay and the Welsh museum of living life via the bus, which was free. Did a very quick run through and some videos and managed to get back at around 2 or 3 and met Bob at the Tourist information centre and walked over to his house which was a really small apartment with a couch pulled out. We had a very interesting conversation about British politics, world environment etc and watched a show about clouds appreciation. I managed to make it out to Llandaff cathedral but missed the evensong entirely because I missed the bus stop that would have connected me to it. Thus, have to go back and visit one day as I didn't get to visit any of the castles either.
Unfortunately probably also forgot my electric tooth brush here too.
London adventures
the 17th was an exhausting day. After traveling, I totally bumbled my plans for the day. Note to self, try to have everything arranged before leaving home.
So actually went to the wrong station to go on the Fat Tire Bike tour.
The day was terribly rainy and cold. Again, did not bring enough clothes as I was trying to pack light so bought a $30 sweatshirt that said London, England. Anyhow, I needed a black zip up sweatshirt anyways for next year I guess.
Basically got into Heathrow and was delighted that I could go on the London underground, colloquially known as the tube for really cheap.
So rode it to to Kings cross where I checked myself into the Ashlee house, which at first glance looks crappy, but actually not too bad although I really disliked the fact that it does not have free wifi.
So then went on to the wrong station for my bike tour but managed to actually catch my group and go with them even though I was almost half an hour late.
I was praying really hard that it would stop raining for the tour and it did, around the same time as when it was suppose to start. However, it was still cloudy and cold for our tour.
We visited all 4 parks in the London area and also Buckingham palace, and Kensington and Princess Diana's memorial walk. We also randomly ran into a parade of veterans I think and also some people with funny bowler hats and a lot of honor badges pinned on their suit.
Then after our tour I wondered around for at least an hour trying to find the right station to get to the Thames river cruise and also the London eye, was an awesome ferris wheel,
Then waiting in the rain for the evening service which was pretty amazing
Sunday, May 17, 2009
First day of London
Sunday May 17th
6:50 am
Arrive in London at
7-8 am
Heathrow airport: get luggage, exchange currency, find tube
8-9 am
Kings Cross station to find Ashlee House and also get 16-25 railcard
Store luggage there and also use internet at net stream cafe to email Kent
9-10 am
Head over to Victoria coach station
10-11 am
Westminster's service at 10 for the Matin
11-3 pm
Fat tire bike tour
3-5pm
Thames river tour
westminster's to tower
tower to waterloo
5 pm
London eye near waterloo
6 pm
head back to hotel and write in diary and extract photos
Journal:
The 16th was mostly figuring out how to travel to DC. So I took the Chinatown bus with century coach and got dropped off in Chinatown outside of 5th and H street. I had forgotten where the metro station was so had to ask a Chinese community church who were really nice. Earlier in the day while on the way to getting to Philly's Chinatown the screw of my glass came off and I was terrified as I could not put it back on by myself and did not have spare glasses and was partially blind. However, I asked this really nice man in the Chinese community church in DC and he told me that the metro station was 7th and H and that the glasses shop was 7 and D and it was actually exactly where he said everything was. I actually doubted he knew where the glasses shop was and asked the Chinatown guide with my glasses that only had one glass hanging off of my nose, I'm sure the tourists thought I was weird or something. Anyhow, so that was fixed and I got to go to the really nice bathroom in the optical shop. Made it to the airport, helped out an air stewardess with pushing a person on a wheelchair into the elevator, I just told her I was a nurse and she was like okay. So check in with my bag even though my STA reservation did not work with the electronic device. I'm going to have to do that again when I get back. Sat to a very boring person who didn't talk much on the plane, he just read the book that his daughter told him to read. I believe he was going to Germany for a trip.
Overall, I felt like God was very gracious to me.
The 17th was an exhausting day. After traveling, I totally bumbled my plans for the day. Note to self, try to have everything arranged before leaving home.
So actually went to the wrong station to go on the Fat Tire Bike tour.
The day was terribly rainy and cold. Again, did not bring enough clothes as I was trying to pack light so bought a $30 sweatshirt that said London, England. Anyhow, I needed a black zip up sweatshirt anyways for next year I guess.
Basically got into Heathrow and was delighted that I could go on the London underground, colloquially known as the tube for really cheap.
So rode it to to Kings cross where I checked myself into the Ashlee house, which at first glance looks crappy, but actually not too bad although I really disliked the fact that it does not have free wifi.
So then went on to the wrong station for my bike tour but managed to actually catch my group and go with them even though I was almost half an hour late.
I was praying really hard that it would stop raining for the tour and it did, around the same time as when it was suppose to start. However, it was still cloudy and cold for our tour.
We visited all 4 parks in the London area and also Buckingham palace, and Kensington and Princess Diana's memorial walk. We also randomly ran into a parade of veterans I think and also some people with funny bowler hats and a lot of honor badges pinned on their suit.
Then after our tour I wondered around for at least an hour trying to find the right station to get to the Thames river cruise and also the London eye, was an awesome ferris wheel,
Then waiting in the rain for the evening service which was pretty amazing as I got to pray outside of one of England's most beautiful churches even though it was raining.
At around 6:15 we finally got to go in after the organ recital was over. The service was surprisingly small of only around a hundred people with the canon of Westminster who was a woman. I was not sure if that's because they're very liberal. Anyhow, the service was about St. Dunstan who formed Westminster as a monastery. Apparently he was a patron of education and music. We sang songs like amazing grace and such. The person next to me in the pew was actually from the the united states and was on his way to an archaeological dig in Jordan as a volunteer, I thought at first he was an archeology professor at a university but he's actually a doctor. His wife is from China and had an umbrella with the heaven brand.
So wandered about for quite a bit after this as the yellow and green lines were closed for this weekend for renovations which was extremely inconvenient for me as I was just new in town and really didn't know much about the tube. But finally managed to walk over to waterloo station and get back to kings cross. Then I tried to organize my stuff and realize that my recharger was missing for the global phone. Also, I didn't have a watch or anything as I was depending on the global phone for my alarm clock etc.
So had to run around trying to find a phone place or a place that sold alarm clocks. Walked around for at least an hour and was apparently cat called by people who were drunk/sketchy. Finally managed to find a place that were really nice as to not only let me test out the alarm clock they also set the time for me. I'm so glad that I lived in Philly so the streets were not as terrifying as it could have been.
God has been at work for me today in the weather, the service at westminster and finding the alarm clock for a reasonable amount of money.
Friday, May 1, 2009
My interest in global health and policy
To Whom it May Concern, I have just finished my third year at the University of Pennsylvania majoring in Health and Societies with a concentration of Public Health. In addition I am also a dual-degree candidate for a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the School of Nursing at my university. My goal is to be a renowned nursing educator in the future, teaching the next generation of nurses to help and inspire others in the world.
My interest in Global and Public Health policy has lead me to take many classes on this subject and outside of my classes, I also participate in various public health venues on our campus. For example, I have helped to organize the National Public Health Week with the Civic House and the Center for Public Health Initiative that took place this past week on our campus. I also helped to organize Mental Health Awareness Week as part of Penn Active Minds executive board the previous week and brought in speakers like Dr. Bray the President of the American Psychology Association. I have also been to various lectures given by well known figures in the health sector such as Paul Farmer, Ichiro Kawachi, the current President of American Medical Association Nancy Nielsen, the former American Public Health Association Dr. Walter Tsou, and many others. These lectures have really inspired me personally and I really want to bring that to this internship, to capture the wisdom and experiences of these leaders in health policy and inspire others. (For details of the National Public Health Week, check out: http://www.cphi.upenn.edu/NPHW.shtml)
I realize that I am so very fortunate to be attending such a great university and definitely want others to be inspired also. In addition, this summer I will also be at Washington D.C. which will put me in a position to gain access to even more inspirational people working on the policies that I have been learning about in my classes. Also due to my community service involvement, I have the honor of working with Ashoka board member Kyle Zimmer with First Book this summer and I am fully intending to learn more about how to create social change and make the world a better place. I have already shown this with my actions by volunteering around at least 10 hours a week tutoring students from low income families in West Philadelphia in a variety of subjects and working to get the resources needed for tutoring groups by working with First Book. I have also advocated for the rights of children globally by leading the student UNICEF chapter at my university. My deep passion for public health policy have also lead me to participate in Wharton Politic and Business Association's annual policy cup on health policy for this year's topic and was one of the finalist. (For my proposal, please check out: http://www.whartonpolitics.com/?page_id=97)
My dedication to Global and Public Health have also lead me to help with various nonprofit organizations, one of those that stands out is PowerUpGambia, (http://www.powerupgambia.org/home) where we work to transform health care through raising funds for solar energy panels. As an average college student, I have various social network accounts with Facebook, Myspace, Youtube, LiveJournal, Blogger and have worked with various other social networks through my work with non profit organizations (i.e.Group Members Only and Ammado). (I have over 100 videos on youtube, and for an example that's health related please see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YywyNl3gIE)
I can also assure you that due to my extensive experiences working with and leading various diverse executive boards I have the capabilities to carry out tasks on time and successfully. In addition, I have also worked with various non-profit organizations before as I have worked as a partnerships coordinator for Givology and also a volunteer with Perspectives debate. I have also learned a variety of advocacy, communications and leadership skills attending various conferences and workshops such as the Young Advocate Leadership Training held by Children's Defense Fund, Student Service Leaders Conference at Drexel University, and Global Development Initiative Annual Forum at Penn.
In the upcoming semesters, I am also planning on attending the International Honors Program's Health and Community track that would help me to expand my horizons by studying problems related to health in different areas of the world like India, South Africa and China and also visiting the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. (http://www.ihp.edu/programs/hc/) I feel that I am a qualified for this position due to all the skills that I have gained through my experiences here at my college. If you need any additional information, please let me know. I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Linda Xiao Kang
My interest in Global and Public Health policy has lead me to take many classes on this subject and outside of my classes, I also participate in various public health venues on our campus. For example, I have helped to organize the National Public Health Week with the Civic House and the Center for Public Health Initiative that took place this past week on our campus. I also helped to organize Mental Health Awareness Week as part of Penn Active Minds executive board the previous week and brought in speakers like Dr. Bray the President of the American Psychology Association. I have also been to various lectures given by well known figures in the health sector such as Paul Farmer, Ichiro Kawachi, the current President of American Medical Association Nancy Nielsen, the former American Public Health Association Dr. Walter Tsou, and many others. These lectures have really inspired me personally and I really want to bring that to this internship, to capture the wisdom and experiences of these leaders in health policy and inspire others. (For details of the National Public Health Week, check out: http://www.cphi.upenn.edu/NPHW.shtml)
I realize that I am so very fortunate to be attending such a great university and definitely want others to be inspired also. In addition, this summer I will also be at Washington D.C. which will put me in a position to gain access to even more inspirational people working on the policies that I have been learning about in my classes. Also due to my community service involvement, I have the honor of working with Ashoka board member Kyle Zimmer with First Book this summer and I am fully intending to learn more about how to create social change and make the world a better place. I have already shown this with my actions by volunteering around at least 10 hours a week tutoring students from low income families in West Philadelphia in a variety of subjects and working to get the resources needed for tutoring groups by working with First Book. I have also advocated for the rights of children globally by leading the student UNICEF chapter at my university. My deep passion for public health policy have also lead me to participate in Wharton Politic and Business Association's annual policy cup on health policy for this year's topic and was one of the finalist. (For my proposal, please check out: http://www.whartonpolitics.com/?page_id=97)
My dedication to Global and Public Health have also lead me to help with various nonprofit organizations, one of those that stands out is PowerUpGambia, (http://www.powerupgambia.org/home) where we work to transform health care through raising funds for solar energy panels. As an average college student, I have various social network accounts with Facebook, Myspace, Youtube, LiveJournal, Blogger and have worked with various other social networks through my work with non profit organizations (i.e.Group Members Only and Ammado). (I have over 100 videos on youtube, and for an example that's health related please see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YywyNl3gIE)
I can also assure you that due to my extensive experiences working with and leading various diverse executive boards I have the capabilities to carry out tasks on time and successfully. In addition, I have also worked with various non-profit organizations before as I have worked as a partnerships coordinator for Givology and also a volunteer with Perspectives debate. I have also learned a variety of advocacy, communications and leadership skills attending various conferences and workshops such as the Young Advocate Leadership Training held by Children's Defense Fund, Student Service Leaders Conference at Drexel University, and Global Development Initiative Annual Forum at Penn.
In the upcoming semesters, I am also planning on attending the International Honors Program's Health and Community track that would help me to expand my horizons by studying problems related to health in different areas of the world like India, South Africa and China and also visiting the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. (http://www.ihp.edu/programs/hc/) I feel that I am a qualified for this position due to all the skills that I have gained through my experiences here at my college. If you need any additional information, please let me know. I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Linda Xiao Kang
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