Learning from each other

If you know me, it might not be hard to believe how my class went today.  I was scheduled to have a class on malaria.  I was very excited about this lecture since it is a topic I have worked with in Uganda.  Unfortunately, or fortunately, our professor never made it to our class.  Since we were already there and some students had traveled a bit far (Copenhagen) it seemed a shame to leave without learning anything.

So I took over.  I organized a panel of students who had experience with malaria and asked them questions about how their countries address the issue, what medications are used, what traditional methods people try, their opinion on why malaria was still a problem, their own personal times of having malaria and so forth.  Other students in the audience also asked questions and our panelists shared their thoughts.  It was really fun.

We have so much to learn from one another.  The experiences and wealth of information each of my colleagues has can be worth more than an hour lecture by a professor who has done extensive research.  While I value my professors it was also nice to have an impromptu change and learn from my fellow students.

After this class several people came up to me saying they liked what we did.  A few told me I should be a health professor.  I was quick to tell them not to tell my mom.  She always wanted me to be a teacher.