By Lauren Biagioli, BS
I went to a Campus Sexual Assault Prevention session with mild interest but….it was Jessy Lyons’ delivery that made me want to get in the field ASAP. She talked about her new program to tackle the bystander effect in campus sexual assault. Although her program was in fact intriguing and I agreed with it, it was how she delivered her presentation to the audience that entranced me. Jessy was engaging and her passion was evident, she ignited a fire in me that made my experience at APHA unforgettable.
I am new to public health but I was becoming a bystander – I was watching things happen and not engaging in conversations that could challenge me. I was waiting for someone else to do it. It was the diffusion of responsibility. Much like the bystander effect I was catching myself expecting my classmates to ask the challenging questions and letting my inquisitive mind fizzle out. Jessy Lyons struck the match for me. It is my turn to take the reigns to continue to learn and question what is already known and challenge where we can go with public health.
When I went into this conference I expected to walk away with business cards and a few notes of new things I learned. Instead I walked away with a few business cards, a notepad filled with page after page of notes, and a new outlook on my approach to learning. You would think that at the graduate level I would have the right approach to learning but I was so wrong. I needed to come to the conclusion on my own that I needed to stop being a bystander to my own education because what I realized is that my approach to learning is a domino effect to those that I come in contact with in the workforce and those populations will suffer if I don’t adopt this change.
Lauren Biagioli has a Bachelor of Science in Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise and is a first-year MPH student, concentrating in Maternal and Child Health. She plans to graduate in May 2017. Her interests include violence prevention, child physical and sexual abuse, mental health, and health equity. She also loves running, connect the dots and sno-balls.
