I've always been very cautious about HAVING AN OPINION. Let me clarify that this is different from simply having an opinion, or even having a strong opinion. If you have an opinion, or a strong opinion, that means you are at least reasonably well-informed about a certain issue, that you take a definite stand on it, and you enjoy learning about it, talking about it, even a good heated-but-civil debate about it. If you HAVE AN OPINION about something, that means that your interest in an issue is so strong that it's emotional as well intellectual, that you will respect someone less if they disagree with you about it because you are so sure that one way of looking at it is right and the other is wrong, and that you may actually try to avoid talking about the issue in a casual setting because you feel so strongly about it that you're afraid you might get upset and make people uncomfortable. For example, I have opinions, some stronger than others, about foreign policy, the environment, the economy, vegetarian/veganism, and raising/educating young children. I HAVE OPINIONS about civil liberties and gay rights. I've also always thought that people who have too many OPINIONS are annoying and hard to talk to, so I try to make sure I know a lot about an issue before forming an OPINION.
Anyway, yesterday, I went to my aunt's writing center at UW to work on my application for Health Care Alternative Spring Break. HCASB is a program that sends college students to rural areas to shadow doctors and learn about rural medicine, so the application asked about why I was interested in rural medicine. I wrote about how underserved rural communities are (not-so-fun fact: one-fourth of the population lives in rural areas but less than ten perecent of doctors practice there. What?!), and how, while I'm not certain rural medicine is what I want to do (I'm leaning more towards Doctors Without Borders), it would certainly be an opportunity to help people who need it desperately, and to rectify a little bit of unfairness, both of which are reasons I want to be a doctor. Anna, the tutor I was working with, commented, "I really like how you talk about the human aspect of medicine in this part . . . maybe you could expand on that a little . . . like, how do you feel about health care in America right now?"
I was pretty surprised about what came out of my mouth: "I think it's absolutely ridiculous! I think that health care is a basic human right and it shouldn't depend on who you work for or how much money you make. I think the idea that someone who's sick has to worry about paying for it rather than about just getting better is insanely unfair!" I wasn't so surprised about the words themselves, just about how firmly and fast I was talking, and at the sense of outrage that welled up in me just at the thought of what health care in America is like today. It's certainly something I'd thought about, especially since I chose my future profession. But it took that simple question from the tutor to make me realize that I HAD AN OPIONION that I didn't even know about.
The upshot is that I think this is something I want to get more involved in. I did a little googling last night about organizations that work for improvements in the healthcare system, and I'm seriously considering volunteering with one of them (just have to do a little more resarch so I can pick one). I think that now, as it's becoming increasingly more evident that America's health care system is failing it's people, doctors (or 19-year-old students who desperately hope they have what it takes to become doctors, as the case may be) have a responsibility to argue and work and fight for something better.
Also, as a diversion from this very serious/wordy post, I will share that I came into work this morning and cheerfully greeted my boss, only to have her respond with, "Good morning, Beatrice . . . you don't work Thursday mornings, remember?" Um, OF COURSE I remember that . . . that's why I dragged my exhausted ass out of bed two hours earlier than necessary this morning. However, on the bright side, forgetting I didn't have to come to work and doing it anyway gave me time to go up to school early, sit in Suzzallo Espresso, and write this, so I guess it's okay.
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