Several of our first-year MCH students attended the 2022 American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting in Boston, MA from November 6-9. APHA was celebrating its 150 Years of Creating the Healthiest Nation: Leading the Path Toward Equity. What follows is a post from one of the attendees.
By Stacy Pierre, BS
I expected Boston to be a lot colder than when we first arrived for the APHA conference. The weather was countering my meticulous conference planning. I had picked out my sessions, printed the QR code for my digital business card, and tailored an outrageously optimistic list of people I wanted to meet. I remember writing down Congresswoman Ayanna Presley’s name and panicking a little at what I was daring myself to do. As it turns out, I am a lot bolder than I can ever give myself credit for. I shall explain.
I lost my contact lens while doing the cupid shuffle at the party for the 150th anniversary. That same night, while being half-blind, I attended the Black Ladies in Public health social and introduced myself to as many professionals as I possibly could. I had promised myself nothing was going to stop me. That was my motto for this whole conference. I always seem to find my way toward the right researchers, the right organizations, and the right public health students. The meticulous planning felt at times unnecessary. The first person I introduced myself to was a fellow Haitian American student. I could not possibly have planned for that. Neither could I have planned for the myriad of emotions I felt witnessing a panel of Black women discuss reproductive justice from an intersectional viewpoint. There was something so powerful about the way Dr. Loretta Ross passed down all her wisdom.
Everyone I met also happened to be yearning for a better tomorrow as much as I am. The session on violence against women and girls in the global south felt most like a community gathering. When the researcher from Rwanda hugged me and told me to stay in touch, it reaffirmed my need to always uplift those working at the margins of our American consciousness.
In the end, I did meet Congresswoman Pressley. I attended the reproductive rights rally where she spoke. She held my hand, asked me to come with her, took a selfie with me and my fellow scholars, and told me I was awesome. She was the fourth person to tell me that during this conference.
When I first applied to Tulane SPHTM, I told Dr. Ramirez that the CEMCH was my main reason for wanting to be here. I found a few more reasons at APHA. I am grateful for it all. I like where I am. I love where I am headed.
Stacy Alerte Pierre, BS, is a first-year MPH student, concentrating in Maternal and Child Health. She plans to graduate in December 2023. Her interests include sexual and reproductive rights, health disparities and accessibility issues in low and middle income countries, social justice, and sustainable health system strengthening. She loves cooking and baking, poetry, embroidery, and British television.
