Homecoming 2010

Hello all,

So it has once again been a very busy and fun week! All wrapped into last weekend was Homecoming, 23rd Birthday and celebrating from mid-terms!

Homecoming 2010:

So football if you haven't figured out is culture here at the University of Iowa, but even if your not a football fan (like I was before attending the UIowa) you easily transform into Hawkeye! There is a lot more than just the football game during Homecoming weekend, including the Parade, which myself and others in the CPH participated in. The College of Public Health Student Association (CPHSA) got everything arranged and we walked as a group supporting Breast Cancer Awareness. This was decided on because it was Breast Cancer Awareness week and because it was very Public Health relevant to our mission. I will be posting pictures of the event tomorrow on our Facebook page. It was a great time to see all the community pride and how many little kids want candy! It was seriously like Halloween, but in parade kid heaven fashion, with the givers of delicious treats doing the walking, while the kids held there bags wide open! Even though it was not the most public health gift, we gave the kids Smartee candies and Breast Cancer Awareness wrist bands, so they were both getting an "IQ" boost and supporting an awesome cause! ;)

Then it was on to the next day (Saturday), which was the football game! It was held in the evening with different sections of the stadium alternating colors of Black and Gold! As you can see in the picture, it was quite a sight and amazing how so many can coordinate their outfits for such a large venue and event! It is hard not to get a school spirit high when your at a game, wich everyone eating, breathing and completely consumed with Hawkeye love, while we all waved our Black and Gold pom poms the Homecoming Organizers had handed out to everyone.

Birthday (23rd):

For my birthday, I decided to gather my friends at two locations downtown: Formosa and Brothers. Both are bars and restaurants downtown and have completely different atmospheres. Formosa has Asian inspired cuisine, while Brothers is more bar food and drink specials. It was nice to get together with a lot of the people in my department since the start of school. It can be hard sometimes in the beginning of the year to get everyone to go out on the same night since people have so many varying schedules. I danced, met new people and had a great time sharing my birthday with the Homecoming crowd that had already infiltrated the Iowa City area anticipating the game the next night.

Mid-Terms:

I guess I should end on a reality note of school. Mid-Terms were last week and they are always a stressful time of the semester but also rewarding. This term, as I previously stated in my last blog is a big learning curve, because I am taking a lot of finance class for my MHA degree, which being a Biology undergraduate, had no previous finance classes other than personal finance, which just gave someone the basics of taxes, loans and credit cards. Even though I am at a learning curve, one of the 3rd years in my department of Health Management and Policy is helping tutor anyone needing help (i.e. myself) and the professors are very understanding of everyone's backgrounds. They know we are here for a reason and won't just slack on work and really respect that some of us have learning curves and are very accommodating to say the least.

I hope to post a blog "Fun Fact" everyday and possibly a picture or video to keep things more interesting and current. Hit me up a comment or link to something fun!

Have a great weekend!

Ryan

Decisions, Family and Homecoming!

Hi all!

Hope you all had a marvelous last week and are enjoying this change in fall weather, which is probably my favorite season because of change in colors and premieres in TV shows, which I only have time for a couple to take a break from studying and daily life.

Decisions:

What are you going to do after you graduate? The question that I think a majority of you reading this and I know I get most often that always has a different answer most of the time depending on where I am on my career soul search. I obviously want to go into a career that will be health administration and policy focused but the exact agency or job is another story. Even as a graduate student, there are unknowns and uncertainty to what exactly you might end up doing someday, but the constant that holds everything together in your program.

I am in the Health Management and Policy (HMP) department. The HMP department is within the College of Public Health (CPH) and houses me because I am pursing my Masters of Public Health (MPH) in Policy and Masters of Health Administration (MHA). The HMP department provides us with networking opportunities with a variety of professionals to be exposed and follow-up with alumni that spark our interests. I can't say enough or give any better advice then to follow something you love or that energizes you. Everyone in the program has different interests, you have to choose for yourself, what route you want to take and organization that best fits your needs and culture.

I have been dealing with this ever since I started last Fall 2009, but each semester have been narrowing my interests and specialities to two main areas: Program Operations (Health Administration) and Policy work at the State level (MPH in Policy). Each of these can provide me with two vary different careers but as the ear goes on, I hope to have a more narrow focused answer to the question I first posed and even if I don't, I know things will be okay because the drive and motivation are there, which is half of what is needed to take you to where you want to be!

Family:

My family was in Iowa City this past weekend to visit and celebrate my 23rd birthday! My brother, Dad, Cody and I all went to the "Vine" in Coralville to watch the Ball State vs. Iowa game, to which we dominated and gave everyone across campus the boost we needed going into Homecoming week! In addition, my Mom and sister-in-law went shopping at the outlet mall just 20 minutes west of Iowa City in Williamsburg. The whole family gathered back together for a night downtown to where we had a fabulous meal at "Givanni's" and indulged in some pumpkin pie back at the apartment. It was a great relaxing weekend with the family which ended with some more eating ;) at Iowa River Power (converted restaurant) that has probably one of the best brunches in Iowa City with complimentary Mimosas!

Homecoming:

The homecoming game is on October 2 @ 7PM again Penn State and the College of Public Health has a couple events that are always a must when it comes to Homecoming!

There is a full week of activities for Homecoming Week, September 25 - October 2. Most everyone across campus participates and the CPH is holding some of it's own events that I will be looking forward to attending, given two mid-term exams I have this week.

HOMECOMING PARADE - FRIDAY, OCT. 1

Come cheer for the College of Public Health Student Association's entry in the homecoming parade! The parade starts at 5:45 p.m. in downtown Iowa City and will feature student and alumni floats, the Hawkeye Marching Band, and the Hawkeye Spirit Squad. View map of the parade route.

CPH HOMECOMING TAILGATE - SATURDAY, OCT. 2

Before the game, stop by the College of Public Health Tailgate from 4-6 p.m. on the patio area directly outside the CPH administrative offices in General Hospital (view map). Hot dogs, cookies, and soft drinks will be provided.

I will definitely be attending the tailgate for sure! So if your in town or want to join, just follow the map directions. Until next time, Good Morning Good Morning!

Ryan

Seminars, Lunch and Golf!

Hi all!

If you couldn't already tell by my picture, football at Iowa has already begun! That was the first HOME football game against Eastern Illinois, in which we dominated and I described the experience in my last blog. We also played Iowa State, one of the big rivalries here in Iowa, this past weekend and currently have a 2-0 record for the season.

The past week has been jammed pack with seminars, networking lunches, golf and of course lots of course work ;)

MPH Seminar:

So almost every Tuesday during the semester, the MPH program coordinates "MPH Seminar" where a wide variety of topics are presented. Everything from professors, current and past students to public health professionals. This past Tuesday, Dr. Osterberg from the Occupational and Environmental Health (OEH) department presented "Green Bike Tour in Romania Touting Renewable Energy”. The past 10 or so years Dr. Osterberg has been going on bike tours all around the world to promote the innovations that are renewable energy, which include his bike that is solar powered, kind of like an electric bike that uses the sun instead of gas to power you along. His message was clear, that it is cost effective and relatively easy for organizations and governments to invest in renewable energy. I was shocked to learn that the state of Iowa gets 20% of its energy from Wind! In addition, there has actually been a decrease in energy expenses for Iowans versus other states that use other sources of energy to power their towns and cities.

All and all it was a very informative topic and very relevant to me, since I am the president of ECO Hawk, which is an environmental group I cofounded last year with other CPH students. We have already put on two waste sorts, field trips to city recycling and landfill sites and have had many gains towards sustainable practices that will be changed and implemented in the new College of Public Health building scheduled to open Fall 2011. We have a lot of events planned for this upcoming fall and are excited to have our first meeting of the academic year this Wednesday!

Lunch and Golf:

On Thursday I was able to have lunch with Iowa Alumni from Alegent Health in Omaha, NE. This was an event put on by my department in Health Management and Policy and was a great way to connect with recent graduates and reconnect with Alumni that had come to Iowa last year for the annual "Iowa Student Association of Healthcare Leaders (ISAHL) Golf Outing". I am the VP for Professional Development for the student organization and our major fundraiser and event of the year is our annual Golf Outing which was held at Brown Deer Golf Club in Coralville, IA (just next to Iowa City). The Friday event was very successful and a lot of fun. I am not an avid golfer but I was able to make it on the "green" a couple times and almost hit a couple people in the process with my flying balls, haha. The event draws in Alumni from all over and was a great way to network and get to know professionals in the field of Health Administration. It is one of my favorite events and I am already looking forward to being able to participate again as a student next year (which will be my final year in the program).

Life:

I was unable to make it to Iowa vs. Iowa State game since I traveled back to my hometown for my cousins wedding, but couldn't wait to get back to Iowa City, where I am now catching up from the long weekend of events and golfing and will update later this week which entails seminars on Emergency Preparedness, All student meetings/outings and a potluck with friends at the end of the week!

Post questions/comments on the blog or send me an email: ryan-landi@uiowa.edu if you all want to know more about my life and Iowa!

Good Morning! Good Morning!

Ryan