There and Back Again...

The funny thing about the Germany trip is that it felt like a dream as I was living it, and still feels like a dream as I try to remember the faces, places, and events I experienced through it. I feel like everything we did, everywhere we went, is starting to melt into one big glorious, colorful dream in my head. At first I found this a bit worrisome. Did everything I learn just float out of my head the second I left Europe? But then, as I talk to people about the trip, about international events, about health care, or about almost anything, I find myself incorporating the knowledge that I gained in Germany. I think that’s the best part about experiences like the History of Medicine program: it doesn’t feel like learning when you’re living it, but the knowledge that you gain carries a deeper understanding that is ingrained in you, whether you feel like you remember it or not.

Going to medical school next year, I’m so thankful for this deeper understanding of medicine and health care that I’ve gained through this trip. I went into this trip very uncertain of my views on “socialized” health care. I felt like its proponents and opponents had equally valid points, if those points were accurate, and I wasn’t sure how to take sides on the issue. But visiting the hospitals in Germany, learning about the medical care offered in Europe, the US, and third world countries, and talking to physicians like Dr. Kleistein, I felt like I was living a 20/20 episode where I got as many perspectives and experiences as I needed to at least start to take a well-informed stance on health care policy. I’m also finding myself more interested in the issue now that I understand it better, which, as I said, is perfectly timed as I enter medical school.

But of course, the knowledge that I gained isn’t limited to health care or medicine (although images of moulages of syphilis and small pox patients, anencephalic babies, and the mega colon flash through my mind just as vividly now as if I were standing in front of them). Having traveled around the country and abroad in similarly sized groups before, I went into this trip fully aware that a big part of the trip is the people you’re with. The country can give you culture and history, but it’s the people that make the memories. I absolutely loved our little group. I think any group that can survive a couple of nights living in the same room in a city like Prague must have been assembled by some divine will. We were remarkable in how we worked with one another, how we organized ourselves so that everyone could do what they wanted, how everyone took leadership without stepping on anyone’s toes, and how everyone was so willing to share, and I think all of this played into what I feel is the most important thing to gain from experiences like this: a deeper awareness of yourself and the world around you. I learned that the key to being comfortable around people, even those you’ve just met, is to be completely comfortable with yourself first. (Cliché, I know, but sometimes you have to re-learn lessons the Disney channel taught you years ago.) I learned that it’s important to laugh at yourself and know what you are, especially in another country where it is quite certain that you’ll make a fool of yourself more than once. I learned that, as beautiful as Germany is, as ingenious as its train system is, as old and peaceful and rich in culture as it is, I love, love, love, love America. I’m so proud of us for being the example that Europe follows in science and medicine. I love that even in terms of music and culture, we’re a favorite in Europe. Having been open to another culture, another society, I found that I love the American spirit; I love the American culture. It’s home, and I find myself being far more grateful for the life I’ve been given here than I’ve ever been before. I also learned that beer, when chosen correctly, isn’t half bad, but Viennese white whine is ridiculously delicious. I learned that even in a country like the Czech Republic, where it’s nearly impossible to find someone who speaks English or to decipher the hodgepodge of random letters and symbols that somehow make Czech words, everyone knows the words to Rihanna’s We Found Love. I have seen how effectively time can heal some of the worst wounds of history, but how the scars still remain and how people as removed from it all as the children of this generation still have to come to terms with it. I could continue for pages more, but I’ll spare you. There aren’t any words that can effectively summarize the full worth of the experiences I lived over this past winter break. I don’t even know if I’ve fully comprehended how valuable it all was. However, I can see the knowledge I gained popping up as I finish up college, through medical school and even through my medical profession. I hope to keep in touch with the amazing individuals that I met through this trip and I hope that this trip is available for generations of college students to come.