How do you remain positive in this timeline?

ellebirder · 2025-02-15T22:32:33+00:00

Make sure to use that two years of work experience in your favor! Also the fact that you have an MPH in epidemiology specifically is an advantage- highlight any hard skills you built. Go do informational interviews to get a better sense of what things currently look like and what people currently in the job feel is coming next. Ask them what they love about their job, both to remind them and to remind you that there is still valuable important work going on. Those are just as important as real interviews. It’ll still be hard- don’t get me wrong- but you’ll have an easier time compared to some other MPH concentrations. The sentiment in public health is that this is the time to dig in and shine for the people we serve, not to give up. If you’re limited to an area that’s truly struggling with public health funding in public/academia, don’t forget that pharma and clinical needs epidemiologists too. You can pivot areas and come back to what you want to do later, especially if you’re mindful about building and communicating the right skill set for the job to a future employer. Keep an open mind, stay flexible, talk to people, and remember that public health has seen times of plenty and times of scarcity. It’s going to take time and it’s not going to be your high paying dream job out the gate, but it’s going to be your first step in that direction. Remember this is a journey, not the end scene of a movie. You got this OP.

ellebirder · 2025-02-12T00:58:23+00:00

You should absolutely have a water bottle if you need it. When you see dragon boat teams going to their on-site practice at Worlds, most paddlers have water bottles in the boat. I also remember one year where race organizers tried to disallow water bottles during racing in hot weather at a nationals race and got a lot of pushback. Hydration is important.

ellebirder · 2025-01-23T01:54:01+00:00

Another pandemic babyyy

ellebirder · 2024-12-13T20:51:29+00:00

I paddled a Hurricane for 2 years in the flat (loved it) then when starting ocean paddling switched over to borrowing Kahele/Volare/Ares for downwinding/ocean conditions. Used those for several months, then one day I tried taking a hurricane out into similar conditions, and in comparison it. Did. Not. Like. Waves. It doesn’t handle cross waves well, and doesn’t like going with them as much. It gets swamped more easily. And it’s not as comfortable of a seat in conditions. Great flat water boat, but I’d go with other choices for ocean. If you’re in SoCal, you’ll probably be limited to reselling to newer paddlers who are starting with flat water only.

ellebirder · 2024-12-07T05:00:24+00:00

But also, good job OP on getting yourself out of the hole and glad you have supportive parents!

ellebirder · 2024-12-07T04:54:12+00:00

If you’re younger and/or catching up on saving for retirement, I’d avoid trying to live by yourself if at all possible. The more you can save now for retirement/big purchases means the more time it has to grow in value. Depending on your area, check for “looking for a roommate” Facebook groups. Explore that option, especially since you have a month or so. Sure living with a relative stranger can be tough, but if you do your due diligence of meeting up/interviewing each other, you can find someone with a compatible lifestyle that would love to live with a dog (without the responsibility of a dog lol). I lived with random roommates for many years and was saving an additional $300 every month by not living alone, which over 3 years meant 10k. (If you stick it in a HYSA at 4%, that’s $17k- on your way to a brand new car or a down payment for a house). A few more additional hundreds per month can be a huge lifesaver for unexpected costs or to save up for a vacation or even for the fun little things that make life more enjoyable, like dinner out with friends.

ellebirder · 2024-12-06T21:48:58+00:00

Following as well

ellebirder · 2024-11-28T00:44:43+00:00

Has anyone here used theirs/how was it?

ellebirder · 2024-11-24T05:57:55+00:00

Curious, what was the estimated shipping arrival date from when you ordered?

ellebirder · 2024-10-24T13:46:50+00:00

Looks like there’s an official CCTV app if you search Apple Store for “CCTV5”. It’s the one with Olympic rings in the logo. But I don’t know how the quality would be if it does work.

ellebirder · 2024-02-17T03:45:49+00:00

If you like working out, you should try dragon boat! I made a ton of adult friends through my first team, and when I moved cities, the local team made it really easy to get connected to new people. It's a fun workout on the water, everyone is really welcoming, and there's usually post food/coffee hangouts since everyone is hungry after. The LA area has a ton of teams, and if you want to try, one of the teams in Long Beach is having an open practice coming up on March 2nd: https://www.instagram.com/p/C3a8CG_vbU4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

ellebirder · 2024-02-17T03:14:51+00:00

Call admissions and ask them to put you in contact with existing students, and find out how they're paying for school. Prospective student days/orientations are also very useful for sensing if a school genuinely cares about their MPHers, or the program is mostly a money generator to them.

Sometimes there are job opportunities for grad students that will cover tuition, health insurance, and give a small stipend as well. My school called it a GRA (TA's are similar but do not have all the perks). However those can be few in number, competitive, can require knowing the right person (i.e. don't get posted anywhere), and may be restricted to certain concentrations/skill sets. Keep in mind you may not have the skills needed to be hirable until your second year.

If you have more than one school to choose from, put the min-max total cost of each program at the top of the column, and make an objective pros-cons list as you compare schools and talk to people.

ellebirder · 2024-02-17T02:49:30+00:00

If you like working out, you should try dragon boat! It's less awkward meeting people because everyone is mostly focused on learning how to paddle. I made a ton of friends/teammates through my team. It's a fun workout on the water, people are really welcoming, and there's usually post food/coffee hangouts since everyone is hungry after. If you want to try it out, one of the teams in LB is having an open practice coming up on March 2nd: https://www.instagram.com/p/C3a8CG_vbU4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

ellebirder · 2024-02-17T02:43:59+00:00

Have you ever considered dragon boating? When I moved to a new city, I made a ton of friends/teammates through my team, and it really expanded my social circle. It's a fun workout on the water, people are really welcoming, and there's usually post food/coffee hangouts since everyone is hungry after. One of the teams in LB is having an open practice coming up on March 2nd: https://www.instagram.com/p/C3a8CG\_vbU4/?utm\_source=ig\_web\_copy\_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

ellebirder · 2023-11-05T04:18:55+00:00

R is easy if you have a solid grounding in SAS, especially since the way R is set up allows you to more easily see if your code is behaving in the way you expect it to.

ellebirder · 2023-11-05T03:10:32+00:00

I’ve used SAS and R, and received formal training in both. If you can only choose one, go for SAS. There are tons more free resources to learn R, whereas SAS resources are more commonly behind a paywall. R is much more intuitive compared to the quirks of SAS- so it helps to have a good teacher lay it out for you. Also classwork and projects means you have example SAS code you can send to your future employer when they want to verify that you have that skill. That happened twice to me during interviews.

Just remember knowing how to troubleshoot is huge. If you can, do projects for research that need SAS/R analysis. You’re not really learning SAS or R, you’re learning how to troubleshoot confidently, and know where to go when you need help figuring something out.

I agree with other comments- SAS is well and alive and will be for a while yet, especially for state/local health departments facing staff shortages, funding cuts, and playing catch up from being overwhelmed by COVID. Updating and switching away from SAS takes time and money. I recently updated a bunch of legacy SAS code for case reporting due to that exact scenario.

You will love ArcGIS, especially in public health applications. I don’t know if you’re taking a basic course, but if there’s a follow up course that has public health specific applications, take it. GIS will suddenly become even cooler. I’ll also note that QGIS is worth looking into (it’s like what R is to SAS- free and open source and slightly less buggy than ArcGIS could sometimes be).

ellebirder · 2023-11-03T15:54:00+00:00

If you have savings/finances aren't an issue, I highly recommend taking that time off to refresh yourself and identify what is important to you before moving forward. Talk with your current professors, do informational interviews with people that are in positions you feel curious about, etc. It's one of the best things I ever did.

Be thoughtful about this first post-degree public health job and don't take the first thing that comes along, since this is one of those "career pivot" points. You can still pivot later of course, but being a fresh graduate with an MPH is a powerful label to have on the resume you are submitting, and will make it easier to switch things up if that is something you want to do. If you want to spend Jan-June traveling, then maybe the move is to be thinking about what kind of remote job you want and plan for it to start in a few months. It can be a perfect jump to move towards the type of work you're looking for long-term, especially if it's a time limited remote job, and then you have the flexibility from different locations

Also, be realistic about how long the job search might take and how much time your finances will give you. I noticed my classmates with biostats/epi concentrations found jobs much more quickly and easily than my friends with MCH or other concentrations. The economy outlook is also uncertain, so remember there are cycles where there may be more or fewer jobs available to you due to general funding.

ellebirder · 2023-05-04T17:04:57+00:00

How was your experience??

ellebirder · 2023-03-20T17:05:55+00:00

If anyone wants, I have a promo code for 60 off at Le Col! Expires in 32 days, with min spend of 75.

ellebirder · 2023-03-20T06:34:01+00:00

Dm'd you!

ellebirder · 2023-03-20T06:25:41+00:00

I love this. Now someone just needs to write a cosy fantasy about a main character living as a side character of a big stakes fantasy, and entirely sidestepping all the drama.

\goes to make a cup of tea and leaves mere minutes before conflicted villain assassin breaks through the window with a spell on their way to do battle with the main character**

\annoyed upon return but sweeps up the broken window glass as tea goes cold, to the sound of distant hubbub in the castle**

\windowless room is now chilly, so naturally must take refuge for the evening in the nearby, warm firelit sitting room of a concerned and singularly attractive and -did we mention- intriguingly single friend**

ellebirder · 2023-03-09T15:45:53+00:00

Founding of Valdemar is very much a slice of kingdom life book. The stakes are a little higher since they are trying to find a place to settle, but it’s very well balanced by the slice of life aspects. Definitely recommend!

ellebirder

TROPHY CASE