One of the recurring themes throughout the year has been growth. As I mentioned, I lived the typical, busy college student schedule before entering the service term. Once I started serving at my host site, I realized that this was no longer needed to feel “accomplished” or “busy”. Sometimes a complicated fifteen-minute encounter trying to help a patient who is uninsured, speaks a different language than me, and has just heard a life altering diagnosis of diabetes is enough to exhaust someone. There was not a textbook or syllabus to guide in these interactions, so I quickly had to grow and be confident I could do my part efficiently and correctly.
