The way Farmer is so selfless amazes me. He could have a very successful life in the United States. He has highly respected degrees of education and is respected among the medical community. Instead of making a ton of money and living a cushy life here the fact he has decided to open and run a free clinic in Haiti is beyond amazing and noble. His simple belief is that everyone should have free medical care-no mater the social standing or level of wealth. His philosophy and beliefs lead clinic to be as successful as it has been and has lead to influence other doctors to come to Haiti and be a part of his hospital. It takes a lot of courage and strength to move to an extremely poor country and help others as your life’s work and I have a lot of respect of them-it is something I do know if I could do for my career. However I have never experienced being I a country of extreme poverty so my mind could change if I am in the surroundings. I think that is what motivates Farmer and his collogues; being around the people, feeling such accomplishment after saving a life-even though the material benefits are no where the same as they could receive in other locations, the physical feeling must feel amazing. Learning to let go of the feeling good when doing things for yourself and learning to drop the selfishness and embrace the feeling of doing good for others I think is a very important lesson to learn and one I am striving to achieve everyday.

I had gone to a high school where sustainability and community service was very important and they incorporated it into the curriculum. Giving back always seemed like part of my schoolwork and it was not until this colloquium that I opened my mind up to seeing giving back to the community in a new way. Learning about health and nutrition and being able to tie it into the community was really cool for me. Reading the books have helped me to realize the little ways I can make differences everyday. By beginning to understand the power I could have has opened myself up to want to do more-not just for other peoples benefits but for myself as well. I have learned that working with young adults and teaching them new information that pertains to their life makes me feel really good and accomplished. Even if I walked away with just teaching one kid, I still know I made a difference. Also through this colloquium I have learned how messed up our food system here in the United States really is and I am making much better choices now. I have always ate organic but I am now looking at labels and trying to buy locally organic as much as possible. I am informing my co-workers, peers and family members of the statistics and articles we read in class. I like that through my class I have been able to teach others.