Updates
Life update and change in frequency of newsletter posts
Dear City Person,
As mentioned in my last post, I had planned on taking a 2-month break from the newsletter only for it to extend into an extra month, as much as I was deeply missing writing to you all this time!
I apologize for this and I wanted to provide an update on what has been happening and next directions for this newsletter. I further want to welcome my new readers, especially those who have subscribed after getting to know me in-person in Baltimore!
I hope that you have been catching up with my past posts which you can access by clicking here if you have not already but I recognize that you also have busy lives in an age of information overload.
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Life Update
I have recently transferred to the full-time in-person format of the MPH program at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health so I am still in Baltimore. For those of you who missed my last post, I had mentioned that I was starting an online part-time format of the program with an in-person class that took place in early June. I landed in here in May to get a feel of the city and to start networking. I wanted to see how I felt in Baltimore and about the political climate in the US before deciding on whether to transfer to the full time in-person format of the MPH or not.
While I am grateful for all that I am learning, the many opportunities, the global network, and the supportive people I have met here thus far, it has honestly been a marathon since the transfer took effect on June 30. The program is an 11-month accelerated one divided into five 8-week terms with a requirement to complete 80 credits to graduate. So far, I have completed 5 credits and I am now in the process of completing 17 credits of required classes during this current summer term. Each credit is worth 3 hours per week of work plus I will need to later complete a capstone project and a 100-hour practicum.
As you can imagine, I am still adjusting to this pace and workload while trying to make room for self-care, socializing, staying in touch with family back in Dubai, networking, and chores.
Next Directions for this Newsletter
Given this update, I have decided that I will try to post by the end of each of my terms or if I am unable to do so, then I will do it whenever I have the time and energy. The end of the upcoming summer term will be August 22nd and the next term begins on the 25th. There will also be a longer break during the winter which I hope will allow me more time to write.
I have been having a lot of reflections about belonging during my time in Baltimore as someone who comes from Dubai and who had previously lived in Boston while shifting careers between counseling psychology and public health.
I am thus keen on writing down these reflections and processing them with you. I had originally planned on writing about a community garden I saw in Sharjah, UAE for the next post so I likely will stick to that topic. Future posts after that will likely be more more Baltimore-centric and I hope to try where possible to center the perspectives of the locals and long-term residents whom I am still meeting here.
Good to hear your update Reema. Best of luck with everything 😊