Intro to my life as a "blogger"....

I am a middle-aged nurse, a mother, a wife, a student of two schools, and of life. I love the ocean, reading a book from beginning to end in a sitting, good food & wine, and my family. Growing up in the southern United States, I still care that people “use their manners”, and treat others kindly. I am a woman that knows, by simple accident of birth, that I have a life that is privileged beyond the dreams of most people on this planet. My special interests as a student are the politics of birth, social justice, rural and underserved populations, and health disparities. If I had to use three words to describe myself, I would say that I am curious, loving, and strong.

Up until a couple of years ago, my life was considerably “low-tech”…Using my paper calendar, I avoided Facebook (& I-phones) for years. It was the principle of shallowly “oversharing” with the world…putting information out into space without knowing who would receive it, that bothered(s) me. I am still intimidated by the speed of current life, of instantaneous communication, and of not being able to see the faces, read to social cues, of the persons I electronically communicate with. It feels awkward, strange.

I am a master’s student in nursing at the Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing, and also a master’s student in public health at the University of Missouri-Columbia. My MSN in nurse-midwifery program requires an I-phone and a Facebook account, in order that I might better communicate with my classmates. My MPH program requires that I “blog” about epidemiology…So, I am dragged into modern cyberspace, and social networking…here goes…