This post is the first in a new series highlighting the successes of alumni of Emory's Center for the Study of Human Health. Our graduates go on to work in a variety of fields and partake in a variety of further training. This semi-regular series will demonstrate these outstanding alumni outcomes.
Sometimes moving forward with “option B” or the “backup plan” ends up proving to be the correct pathway for an individual’s personal gain and fulfillment. My original plan was to graduate from Emory, with a degree in environmental sciences and head straight to law school to pursue environmental law. My sophomore year I randomly took “Foundations of Public Health” with Professor Michelle Parsons and was so intrigued at the content, in a field I never heard of and knew nothing about, that I undertook Human Health as an additional major. Further, my focus as a future lawyer shifted to environmental health topics, such as air and water quality.
Several courses I took in the Human Health program shaped my reasoning for delving into this field. Those courses included the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) George Luber’s, “Core Issues in Global Health: Under the Weather?”, Dr. Jennifer Sarrett’s “Health Ethics”, and Professor Size’s “Geology and Human Health”. I saw the connection in the material I was learning about community and population health, with factors and effects of the ever-changing environment.
Several courses I took in the Human Health program shaped my reasoning for delving into this field. Those courses included the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) George Luber’s, “Core Issues in Global Health: Under the Weather?”, Dr. Jennifer Sarrett’s “Health Ethics”, and Professor Size’s “Geology and Human Health”. I saw the connection in the material I was learning about community and population health, with factors and effects of the ever-changing environment.
Sydney Wolchok
After the New Year of my senior year, having already been accepted to law schools, I quickly decided to apply to public health schools. I graduated from Emory this past May and recently started at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health to pursue a Master’s of Public Health (MPH) in environmental health sciences with a certificate in climate & health. Despite now putting law school on hold, I know I made the right decision by forgoing my original and lifelong plan (for now; I still have full intentions on obtaining a law degree). With the guidance of Paul Bredderman, associate director at Emory’s career center and an incredible mentor, I was able to see how my undergraduate education had a profound effect on me and my thoughts on what I want to do with my position of power, having been so privileged to receive an incredible education from renowned professors in the field.
At the 11th hour upon graduation, I veered from my original, and previously definitive, path to becoming an environmental lawyer. It made more sense to me to continue my education first through a more scientific lens in the area of law I know I will eventually be practicing. Had I not had the opportunity to get to know professors and learn from those in the Emory Center for the Study of Human Health, I would never have discovered my passion for environmental health or ever consider a Master’s degree.
Currently, I am in my first week of classes at Columbia and have already seen the parallels between the human health department at Emory and Mailman. Similar themes and even the same resources, from video clips to journal and review articles to references that I learned or read about while at Emory, have already been presented and assigned. This shows how valuable the information I was exposed to at Emory such that is relates to numerous areas of life and educational opportunities. I am so grateful I took a chance and double majored in a field I genuinely had no interest in at first. Had I not, I would have missed out on all that the Center for the Study of Human Health has to offer and doors it opens for networking, careers, and one’s future overall.
If anyone gets anything out of my story, I hope it would be realizing there are multiple paths one can take to get to the same end goal. Those routes may at first not seem plausible or attainable, but know it won’t hurt in the long run and it can only help one in their future endeavors and goals.
At the 11th hour upon graduation, I veered from my original, and previously definitive, path to becoming an environmental lawyer. It made more sense to me to continue my education first through a more scientific lens in the area of law I know I will eventually be practicing. Had I not had the opportunity to get to know professors and learn from those in the Emory Center for the Study of Human Health, I would never have discovered my passion for environmental health or ever consider a Master’s degree.
Currently, I am in my first week of classes at Columbia and have already seen the parallels between the human health department at Emory and Mailman. Similar themes and even the same resources, from video clips to journal and review articles to references that I learned or read about while at Emory, have already been presented and assigned. This shows how valuable the information I was exposed to at Emory such that is relates to numerous areas of life and educational opportunities. I am so grateful I took a chance and double majored in a field I genuinely had no interest in at first. Had I not, I would have missed out on all that the Center for the Study of Human Health has to offer and doors it opens for networking, careers, and one’s future overall.
If anyone gets anything out of my story, I hope it would be realizing there are multiple paths one can take to get to the same end goal. Those routes may at first not seem plausible or attainable, but know it won’t hurt in the long run and it can only help one in their future endeavors and goals.
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