Beginning of the End

It's hard to imagine that I'll be leaving Metro after 3 mere weeks. While my time there may have been short, I'll keep the lessons I've learned for a lifetime. While my project has certainly helped broaden my horizons in terms of career possibilities, the more important opportunity I gained was that of interacting with the population of the downtown area. There are so many incredible stories, magnificent people and tragic endings that happen without any notice of those in our little bubble. While Hawken likes to pride themselves on their experiential learning, nothing I've done in the scholastic setting has been as educational or as powerful as listening to the tales of the patients at Metro. Every day I realize how lucky I am to be who I am, where I am and have the options that have been presented to me. Thinking about it today, the biggest culture shock I've probably been hit with was at Mound Elementary school. As I walked in to the school, I passed by a guard and under a metal detector and found my way around to the clinic room. But only today did I fully understand what I had done. The elementary school I had visited had been deserving of both a full time guard and a metal detector. When I was in 6th grade the only thing I worried about was getting my mom to drive me to friends' houses or sneaking some dessert before dinner. Nothing that warranted any kind of security system to be put in place. Safety was always something I took for granted, and now I realize that children 15 minutes from where I live have to worry about it every day. What I've seen and heard while working at Metro will stay with me for years to come and I'm so glad to have been offered the chance to take a look into my community around me, and take a few steps out of the bubble I've grown accustomed to.