Lets try this just once more...

Doubtful anyone's been paying attention to the many, many futile attempts I've made to keep a regular blog over the years, but in case you have, you're about to be excited, and then likely, quickly disappointed again. The name I've given the blog isn't going to stay--it's just until I can think of a literary reference I like enough to put in the title so everyone can grasp how well-read I am immediately on visiting.

Today I arrived back in NY after spending a little over a day in Boston. I got a chance to visit the School of Public Health and meet some of my future classmates. I know now that my decision to pick BU over GWU was the right one, because I've truly never felt so immediately comfortable around a group of faculty and peers before. It was incredibly evident to me that the professors were passionately dedicated to serving overlooked, underserved and vulnerable populations. The more I listened to them speak about the intersection between classwork, research and field practice that we'd experience at BU, the more I started to feel like I truly made the right decision committing myself to the practice of public health.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I have too many interests to pursue them all. I love writing and I love editing, and I feel comfortable with both. I have always maintained that journalism is extremely important, and its necessary to keep both public and corporate organizations in line. But increasingly, corporate interests own media outlets and the news has become a commodity much like everything else. After working in the corporate world for a little over a year, I can't even put into words how incredibly close I am to becoming a full-blown commie. I'll save those thoughts for a different post though.

What initially inspired me to write tonight was this post from a Gen Y lawyer, Adrian Young, which I actually found through a link from another blog on change.org, both of which got me thinking about my own career choices. On his blog, Mr. Young writes about the clash of Baby Boomers and Gen Yers in the field of law. The partners don't understand the Gen Y need to strike a "career-life" balance. They feel that such a thing is unnecessary--working 70-80 hours a week should be a rewarding experience unto itself, because it allows someone to become "a damn good attorney." To be a good employee, its necessary to put the firm first. To the partners, Gen Yers are just lazy employees who want to be employed on their own terms, and not the firm's.

And I wonder--so what if they do? I have so many friends my own age who are doing great things with their lives--teaching the next generation, training to become physicians, working for non-profits, writing fantastic journalism--and not one of them is lazy, and not one of them is stupid (as the partners seem to suggest, calling our generation incompetent). In fact, my friends are some of the most brilliant people I know. They also tend to want more free time, and yes, more flexibility in their work. But who can blame them? They've seen firsthand how the previous generation's dedication to their work impacted their personal lives, and decided that its just not worth it.

Its an understatement to say that our generation is going to have to be innovative in order to combat all the challenges that are going to be placed before us throughout our lives. Medicare funds are about to run out (along with Social Security funds) in a mere few years, global warming and the destruction of so many natural places continues, and oh yeah, the economy just collapsed. There is no group of people I'd rather have dedicated to solving these problems than my friends and colleagues of my generation. To me, the fact that they're not motivated by just making money and gaining prestige is an admirable trait--and its the rigid Baby Boomer generation that comes off as looking entitled, as they fail to adapt to a changing workforce. I'd much rather have time to spend with the people I care about than work extra hours to earn money to buy things that I'll never even have the time to enjoy.

Anyway, after the open house at BU, and reading this article, I'm more happy than ever with the path that I've chosen--and I know so many of you are too. Keep up the good work, Gen Y.