Resuscitating the Blog

As difficult as it sometimes was for me to keep my posting up to speed with the health-related media, I have missed this blog and have decided to revive it, even though it may no longer have any readers.

I have found less time (and less necessity) to write since the college course for which I started this blog ended in early December 2007. But for the past five months, I have been working full-time at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and have found myself surrounded by people who have devoted their lives to helping others stay healthy.

I helped process the nearly $500,000 in donations raised by the annual Rally Against Cancer effort. I watched as thousands of runners, among them cancer survivor and Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, converged on our fabulous city for the 112th Annual Boston Marathon. And just last week, I saw the shock and concern on the faces of many New Englanders when Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy was diagnosed with brain cancer.

Unlike many of my co-workers and fellow Boston residents, I am not a native New Englander and do not feel any connection to the Kennedy family. But if I've learned one essential lesson from my time at Dana-Farber, it is that everyone, regardless of age, nationality, or social status, understands the evil of cancer. And at Dana-Farber, everyone also understands the power of research and the power of hope. I work in a fairly small unit of the organization, but within our staff of 22 are men and women, from age 22 to age 60, from Liberia, Nigeria, Venezuela, China, and various corners of the United States. The organization as a whole employs people from all corners of the world. Cancer is a universal evil, and it is through the collaboration of such great minds from such a variety of places and perspectives, that organizations like DFCI have been able to make significant breakthroughs in the fight against that evil.

I graduate from college three months from today, and I would love to say for certain that I will return to Dana-Farber at that time. Unfortunately, I can't yet be sure of my career path, but wherever I go, I will be watching and listening for the great achievements that will continue to come out of this wonderful organization.