Fitting and Belonging

Today was different. Our schedules were not normal. We had four hours of our schedules dedicated to Al and Sarah. From 8-10am, Al talked to us. A couple of days ago, we had a debrief where we were able to share our feedback about the program. Today, Al addressed our concerns and our attitudes. He stressed how much of work and effort that him and Sarah have both put into this program to make it happen. After going through a pandemic, I honestly was not expecting to be a part of this amazing summer program again. I was worried that I would not be able to have that experience. But despite all the obstacles, the amazing MedEx staff made it happen for us.

During our debrief, some of the comments that were made by our tier came across as unappreciative. After Al's presentation, I think we all took a step back and came to realization. I think that our tier also struggled with connecting with each other. Sarah and AJ planned a great activity for all of us to engage with. On one wall, there was a poster, and on it we wrote what we have experienced at MedEx thus far. Words such as "love, kindness, honesty, and vulnerability" were written. On the other poster, another group explained what it meant by belonging. We all wanted to feel like belonged. So, Sarah thought of another exercise to allow us to connect with each other. Actually, it was called "Connect". We all sat down in a circle and had our eyes closed. Alphabetically, a group of names were called up and they were given prompts such as "connect with someone you are proud of". When you wanted to show someone you were proud of them, you would "connect" with them by tapping them on their shoulders. There were about 15 prompts and each prompt was so kind. When it was my turn to sit with my eyes closed, I was nervous to not feel any taps. I was shocked. I was getting taps left and right. People were proud of me, people wanted me to succeed, people thought I was a leader, people cared for me. I could not help but smile when I was tapped. It brought me joy and I knew my peers in the room looked out for me and truly saw something in me. This activity taught me something that I never really knew about myself and it also taught me that I have an impact on other people.

I really appreciated this exercise and for MedEx to take time to talk to us about issues that needed to be addressed. They care about us so much that they want us to be better people and to be happy. You will never find a family like your MedEx family.