Monday, April 28, 2014

Reflecting Back


Hey guys! A month ago, I went to D.C. for the National Walk for Epilepsy. And…it was awesome!

Fellow NEYC member Steve met me the day before the walk. We enjoyed some delicious Georgetown Cupcakes and complained about how hard it is to drive in D.C. The best part though, was spending the evening discussing the Youth Council, as well as epilepsy in general. Steve does not have epilepsy, and it’s great to talk to someone like him who has a genuine interest in the subject.

Now we get to the good stuff- the walk! Steve and I volunteered at the NEYC table in the Epilepsy Foundation of America tent, and Brandon (our newest NEYC) member stopped by as well. It was nice to meet so many people who had an interest in learning about epilepsy and who wanted to become involved with EFA.

The most incredible part of the walk was seeing the community. Everyone there receives a white shirt, but people who have epilepsy get purple ones. I always tell people how it’s impossible to know who has epilepsy just by looking at them, and how it is such a prevalent condition. However, this was truly the first time that I realized the truth behind what I say. It was so amazing to look around at this group and realize that I could pass any one of them on the street and never know about this special bond that we have, and the experiences we have shared.

Epilepsy advocates are always spreading messages, but I think that we sometimes forget to step back and appreciate the truths behind those messages. It becomes easy to just have a sort of “mental script” and constantly repeat it, without really thinking about it. We constantly spread messages to others, but maybe we should spend some time spreading them to ourselves.

I recently wrote a blog post for the Tufts University Public Health Rounds Newsletter about how awareness/fundraising walks are great public health events. http://sites.tufts.edu/publichealth/2014/03/31/walking-for-a-cause-how-walking-is-a-public-health-event/