Narrowing Down Practicum Choices

It's hard for me to choose just one thing. If I could, I would spend my days learning about everything under the sun. Case in point: my bookshelf includes texts on psychology, health, physics and music—and I’m even pretty sure I have a book about the history of football lying around.

Similarly, my research interests have been all over the place. Before Mailman, I’ve worked on projects that have dealt with suicide in the military and breast reconstruction among Puerto Rican and Dominican women following cancer-related mastectomies. I have a nagging sense of curiosity that doesn't seem to get easily satisfied.

Unfortunately, ‘nagging sense of curiosity’ doesn’t get you very far on a resume, so when the time came to look for a summer practicum, I was forced to ask myself some serious questions: What am I really about? What do I really want to know? What was I willing to do?

I often struggle between ideals, opportunities, and still-developing research interests. So when the desperation to find a practicum tempted me to bend and stretch in many different directions, I applied to the widest range of openings. For several months, I prioritized applications over my homework and I found myself interviewing for position after position, time and time again. 

Suddenly, my sense of direction became a bigger problem than any lack of opportunities. As I pushed the boundaries of what I was willing to do, there came an underlying worry that I was betraying my original goals. 

I would think, “There’s a paid practicum working with sexual violence? I’m sure my interests are somehow related.”

But as I got deeper into the application process, I found it easier to apply to some positions over others. For instance, the Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion encompassed both my passion for research as well as my dedication to public service, so it was simple to express the importance of health promotion. Instead of performing mental gymnastics to make my interests compatible with the Lerner Center, I found myself writing a cover letter wholeheartedly and with genuine ambition. Looking over the job description, I found myself becoming excited to become involved in the Center's work. I authentically believed I was the best candidate for their summer research practicum.

The variety of positions available through Mailman challenged my ideas and the general plan I have for my career,  but by drafting multiple cover letters and going on several intereviews, I found something that fits me just right. My belief that influencing health behaviors could stem the tide of chronic disease has been reinforced through my position at the Lerner Center, and now the use of health promotion to improve lives is driving my pursuits in public health.

By Patrick Robles, Department of Sociomedical Sciences, MPH '17

If you would like to contribute to Mailman Student Voices, please send a three to five-sentence pitch outlining your topic to mailmancomm@columbia.edu.