Sunshine! There are still a few feet of snow on the ground, but the birds are singing and I've simply decided it *must* be spring.

The last month has been a haze of new coursework, research arrangements, and fantastic extracurriculars. A few highlights:

The Medical Arts Program put on yet another phenomenal event, one where we went to the photography exhibit "The Other Camera" and then to the play "The Suit." Michigan's Institute for the Humanities had kept the photo gallery up an extra day for our group, so we were able to have a catered dinner among the pictures of South Africans, getting an interesting inside look from community photographers attempting to reframe historical and societal issues.

http://www.lsa.umich.edu/humanities/TheOtherCamera

Prepared by themes among the photographs, I was blown away by "The Suit" -- without a doubt one of the most moving pieces of theater I've ever seen performed. I won't be able to do justice to the message, but what I loved most was how much I learned about apartheid South Africa on an emotional and familial level. I found myself literally on the edge of my seat, enthralled by the history passed on through the story of a couple.

http://ums.org/performance/theatre-des-bouffes-du-nord-the-suit/

A week later, I helped host a "non-traditional" MD/PhD dinner, where we invited students and faculty who have pursued PhDs outside of the basic sciences. We ended up with a lively table of people interested in medicine and history, public health, anthropology, economics, psychology, and much more. For us students pursuing a non-trad path, it was both fun and encouraging to converse with people who have really made it work!

Then, finally, yesterday, we published the latest issue of The Hippo, the literary and arts magazine of UMMS. As always, I am blown away by the insight and talent of classmates!

http://www.the-hippo.com/content/