It’s great to have all of our HHD students back in Happy Valley!  I hope your first day of classes went well.  We’ve kicked off the year here with a great JumpStart program and the Dean’s Ice Cream Social yesterday was our first event in our new HHD Building.  I hope all of our new first-year, transfer and change-of-campus students got to meet some of their faculty, advisers, and fellow students. By the way, HHD has added a “Take Your Professor to Lunch (or Coffee or Ice Cream) Program”–check it out!

As your Associate Dean, I’ll try to blog about once a week on a topic that interests students, faculty, alumni and others. I’ll also post some information here about resources for students.

My topic today is student involvement.  My question for our HHD students this week is this: What can we do to help get more HHD students involved and help HHD student organization achieve their goals?

I hope you’ll share your thoughts in the comments. You can also tweet ideas to me @DennisG_Shea with #PSUHHD and join me for Twitter Office Hours (Tweet-OHs) Wednesday night at 9 PM.

One of the great experiences I’ve had as a faculty member is being involved in clubs and organizations with students.  Whether hosting alumni speakers, traveling with students to professional conferences, or just helping them develop their leadership, it’s always been a great experience.  I encourage all of our continuing and our newest students to find an organization and get involved–or start a new group that we don’t have here.

We’ve been working hard to help HHD student organizations expand their ability to support and represent students.  And we have some fantastic clubs and organizations in all of our departments.  I just want to plug one–our HHD Student Council.  This is our official college organization, and I am so impressed with the work they have done to turn our Student Council into a powerful group to support and represent HHD students.  I hope that you’ll consider attending their first meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 1, in 10 Henderson Building (I want to make sure all HHD students know that 10 Henderson is YOUR student center–open throughout the day, it’s a great place to relax, study, eat lunch, etc.  There are computers and a printer there for you to use)

Events

• Penn State Involvement Fair, Mon. – Thurs., Aug. 24 – 27, 11:00 AM-4:00 PM, HUB-Robeson Center
• 1st Annual Cigna Wellness BBQ, Fri., Aug 28th, 11am-2pm, Smeal College of Business lawn
• Fresh START Day of Service, Sat., Aug. 29, 8:30 AM-4:00 PM, Alumni Hall, HUB-Robeson Center
• HHD Student Council, Tues., Sept. 1, 6:30-8, 10 Henderson Building
• HHD Multicultural Student Welcome, Wed. Sept. 9, 5-6:30 PM, 10 Henderson
• Fall Career Days, Sept. 15-17, Bryce Jordan Center
• PSU Education Abroad Fair, Sept. 30, 11am-4pm, HUB-Alumni
• C.A.R.E. Fair, Oct. 7, 10am–1pm, HUB-Robeson. This career event is focused on employers in health and human services, park and recreation management, hospitality, public service, non-profit and volunteering realms.
• HHD Education Abroad Open House, Oct. 16, 3-5pm, HHD Building Commons
• HHD Parents and Families Ice Cream Social, Oct. 17, 1-3 PM, 10 Henderson

Resources and Opportunities

• HHD has some new resources for students! Career Services will have an onsite career counselor located in 9 Henderson Building on Friday mornings, right by our Student Center and Student Services Office.  Drop by Friday morning or call 865-2156 to make an appointment.  Penn State Career Services, of course, has lots of opportunities to get started on your career planning and seminars leading up to the Career Fair. We’ve been adding some more information on careers on the HHD web site, too. Later this semester, we will also have a librarian available in Henderson to assist students with projects and papers requiring library resources.
• Get your career network going! Volunteer your time to help with student registration and employer move-in and set-up for the 2015 Bryce Jordan Center Fall Career Days on September 15 -17 from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm, Bryce Jordan Center. To volunteer, go to http://studentaffairs.psu.edu/career/fairs/Fall/student/volunteer.shtml. Once on the site, you will click on https://www.engr.psu.edu/career/fcd-volunteer to select a 2-hour shift to help. Students who sign up for morning time slots will be deployed to help employers set up their booths. In the afternoon, students will assist with student check in on the Bryce Jordan Center concourse. Questions about volunteering can be addressed to Sherry Rice at careerfairs@sa.psu.edu
• Penn State can be a challenging place to master.  That’s why it’s important to take advantage of all the supports available to students.  Don’t forget about the following:
  • Our Student Services Center in HHD is a great place to start. Margaret Sebastianelli, Ro Nwranski, Sue Confer and Deb Houser are all there to help answer questions and point you in the right direction.  Call 865-2156 any time you need assistance.
  • Penn State Learning is your on campus tutoring center, providing help in  writing, public speaking, math, and more. The Undergraduate Speaking Center is another great place to work on your speaking skills.
  • The Multicultural Resource Center provides many groups and seminars for our diverse students.  Stop by their offices and get connected or visit Ms. Joyce Hopson-King in the HHD Diversity Enhancement Office (5 Henderson or 863-1291)
  • Adult learners, military veterans, and many more types of Penn State students can find peers for support!
  • Finally, if you need support in a medical or mental health crisis, make sure you know the numbers to call

In short, our faculty, staff, students, and alumni in HHD and throughout Penn State are here to help you succeed.

Hello again, fellow knowledge-seekers! It’s been approximately two weeks since I left Senegal and stepped foot on American soil. After the culture shock—and digestive shock—of being back home, I’ve been able to assess and analyze my observations from Senegal.

About half of my time in Senegal was spent in the hospital observing the consultations of the diabetes doctor. Thankfully, she spoke English and could explain everything to me, and as someone interested in public health, I enjoyed being able to see how patients interacted with the hospital.

The biggest thing I discovered was how intricately economics are woven with health. Unfortunately, there were many patients who couldn’t control their diabetes. Some patients complained, with sad or cynical smiles, that diabetes was the disease of the wealthy. When you break down what is needed to manage diabetes, it certainly seems like it. If a household had a diabetic patient, the family needs to be able to pay for extra food, since the diabetic patient can’t eat the same meals as the rest of the family. In addition, the patient needs to pay for their medication; a glucometer, and the lancets and test strips needed to maintain consistent use of it; regular blood tests as recommended by their doctor; the hospital consultation bills; and any other costs that arise from not being able to manage the disease properly—including surgery and prosthetics for amputations.

This is the same case for diabetics here in the U.S. I’ve long known and been taught at Penn State that health is largely impacted by wealth, and even something as minimal as housing can have a dramatic impact on well-being. Surprisingly, however, witnessing it firsthand in Senegal and seeing the human faces behind this problem has really put this problem in perspective for me.

The question that follows from knowing this is, “Where do we go from here?” And that’s complicated. I’ve been studying the way culture impacts health; incorporating this economic components further puts public health issues in perspective, but also makes solving them more difficult by having to consider more factors. So, I don’t have a clear answer right now.

However, it is good that I’m considering these factors now, because that means I’ll have a greater impact on public health in the future. And that increased potential for impact is all the proof needed to confirm that this experience was worthwhile.

Major – Biobehavioral Health
Minor – Global Health, Microbiology

Hometown – Bronx, New York

Hello everyone! My name is Moses Akintunde, a rising senior this fall studying Biobehavioral Health. I am a New York native, and I currently reside in the Bronx.

This summer I was awarded the prestigious honor to intern at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. The internship is part of Project IMHOTEP; a summer program designed to train underrepresented minorities for careers in public health, and is one of six programs under the CDC Undergraduate Public Health Scholars (CUPS) program. My particular internship is open to rising juniors, seniors, and recent graduates, and it had presented itself to me at the most opportune time. Here, I work with the Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria (DPDM) in the Center for Global Health. My responsibilities are to conduct, analyze, assess, and present the findings of a national survey of U.S. laboratories for a parasite that causes Cyclosporiasis, a gastrointestinal illness. In English, I’m conducting a survey and reporting my findings.

Speaking for my fellow undergrads, it can easily be agreed that finding the right career path is harder than finding an open computer during finals week. Now of course the exception exists of those that have known exactly what they’ve wanted to do in life since we were all still playing with Barbie’s and Hot Wheels. But honestly, who really knows if their intended career path is indeed the right fit. Speaking for myself, I’ve bounced back and forth between pre-med and public health degree options. Why? Well personally, I just wasn’t sold that med school was actually for me. At one point I had listed more reasons ‘against’ than ‘for’ attending med school. And on that list against you would’ve found the years, debt, O-Chem (shivers*), and most importantly, my lack of passion. I admire nothing more in people my age than those who are passionate about their intended careers; and before this internship, I wasn’t passionate at all. This summer, however, I learned that public health is what I intend to do, and what’s most comforting is that I have absolutely no idea where the field will take me. But that’s okay. From all of the people I’ve met this summer not one person actually had life figured it out. I’ve heard countless stories, and they’re all dedicated to this same field.

Danielle Connor updates us on her work with kids at Easter Seals.  Read her first blog post.

I had previous notions about special needs and what it takes to communicate with people who are different than me. I think it’s safe to say that I was sheltered in a world of average people knowledge. What I know is pretty standard, but incorporating what you know into what you do and think comes with going out into the world where people are. You acquire resourceful knowledge that helps create your development as a person more so than the exercise the ability to memorize facts.

Special needs children know more than most think they do, and I used to be one of those people. It seemed as if we were all just guiding them through activities that they did modified versions of – crafts, eating, book reading, etc. We’d read a book, and a child with multiple developmental delays might look like they’re staring off into space, having every page come and go with no effect. Correctly asking questions to them afterwards, however, gives them a chance to answer in a way that they can tell you what they’re thinking. For example, give them two responses that they can choose from, and while saying each one, stroke a different side of their face. “Does he have a red (left cheek) or blue (right cheek) ball?” When they lean their head to the correct side and look at you, you begin to realize that all of this isn’t for nothing. I taught a boy how to tell me how he wanted to be pushed on the swing – from the f-f-front or the b-b-back? His absence of language outside of three words makes it difficult to communicate with anyone, but just hopping onto the swing and instantly giving me his “bb-“ sound showed me that he remembered what I taught him. He remembered! And it’s something I taught him by myself!

These subtle signs of improvement touch you in a way that makes you feel like it’s all coming together, but it also makes you think even more about your passion. Are the smallest improvements in one child worth an entire lifetime devoted to this profession? That’s where the difference between passion and profession comes in – one can sustain you and the other can fund you. I decided that even if my clients can only call me D-d-d- because of my hard work, then that’d be the fortune of a passion.

My name is Ali Greenberg and I will be beginning my Senior Year this fall. I am studying Hospitality Management with a minor in Labor and Employment Relations. I spent the past Spring semester studying in Florence, Italy through a new Hospitality Management Global Program at Florence University of the Arts. It was truly an amazing experience immersing myself in the Italian culture inside and outside of the classroom. After graduation I hope to pursue a career in the Hospitality Industry that allows me to combine my passion for the growing hospitality field and love of traveling.

The hospitality industry is ever evolving and growing, ensuring that no day is dull or ever the same. Currently working as a rotational intern at the Hyatt House in King of Prussia, PA, my summer internship solidifies this notion. This unique property is owned and managed by Lodgeworks, a dynamic hotel development and management company based in Wichita, KN. The Hyatt House is classified as an extended stay property. This exclusive concept attracts guests who are primarily staying more than five days and provides them with residentially inspired suites. Often these are business travelers who return frequently, thus allowing the hotel employees a chance to build a strong relationship with these guests. Every few weeks I am cycled into a different department, exposing me to the many aspects of a hotel property. So far I have worked in multiple departments including engineering, sales, food and beverage, and just about everything in-between. It is great to see all of the various responsibilities and procedures that each department follows on a day-to-day basis and further observing how each division interacts with one another. Jeff Heim and Rosemarie Hibler, two faculty members of the Hospitality Management program, made a visit to the hotel this past week. It was great to show them the property as well as see the other Penn State alumni that work at the Hyatt House!