"The key to realizing a dream is to focus not on success but significance, and then even the small steps and little victories along your path will take on greater meaning." - Oprah Winfrey

⚠️Length Warning: I'm going to try to get a lot into this first issue, so as promised, here's your warning. You might need to read it in chunks - or if you're a faithful follower of mine, you can just skip to the boiling hot tea that I will spill about why I chose to not attend George Washington University.

THANK YOU!

First and foremost, I just want to say thank you to everyone who has subscribed, shared my posts, and sent feedback. I am always afraid of failing when I start something new, but y’all never seem to let that be a possibility. I appreciate it more than I can explain. Y’all are my family and I’m blessed to have you! ♥️

Where Did The Year Go?!

I don't know about y'all, but I'm really perplexed at how we got to October so fast! If I'm honest, I don't know how we got to 2022 from 2019, but that's for another newsletter. Anyways, it feels like just yesterday, I was anxiously checking my email waiting for an acceptance email from one of the two doctoral programs I applied to. I'll be honest that I miss the days of paper mail acceptances - I wanted a BIG envelope - instead I got a "Congratulations!" email with one and a "... sign into the portal for your decision" email with the other (I'll let you guess which one was which). And now look at me - I am a whole doctoral student at the #1 School of Public Health in the country well on my way to becoming Dr. Health Equity Jazz (God is good... All the time... for my Black church family y'all know how to read that).

With time moving so fast, it's really hard to think about all that has happened over the past few months, and even harder to look back and appreciate all of the accomplishments, growth, and change. If I'm honest, it's one of the reasons why I wanted to start this newsletter. Whether you read it or not (but I hope you will), I will now have a memory book of sorts to remember the successes, failures, and pivotal points of my life. And if it helps some of you along the way, I think that's a job well done!

Let's Walk Down Memory Lane...

While I believe you all know my stories, and don't need a full recap of my journey back to school, my hope is that this newsletter brings some new bodies to the community, and everyone won't always know me or parts of my story. The great thing is over the past year, I've been chatting with my friend Omari, The Public Health Millenial, about my public health journey, my decision to go back to school, and even a live announcement of where I decided to matriculate.

So, if you're new to me and my journey, you should check out my first ever podcast interview below. Note: Please forgive the hundreds of times I use the word "like." After listening to that interview, I died a lotta bit, and after my rebirth I consciously decided to let my introvert brain do the magic it's pre-wired to do -- pause, think about what I want to say, and then speak. We all have to start somewhere.

067: Good Trouble Making with Health Equity Jazz with Jasmine Leonard, MPH - The Public Health Millennial — thephmillennial.com

My first conversation with Omari about my public health journey and why I am proud to be a good trouble maker.

If you already know about me (which let's be honest - everyone should), you might be interested in how I made my decision about which doctoral program to attend. (Spoiler alert: I kept it sanitized for the live discussion and y'all are about to get some of the real tea, if you keep reading.)

And because I couldn't make all my announcements in one live discussion (your girl made moves this year), we chatted again about finances when the embargo was lifted on letting more than just friends and family know about the Bloomberg Fellowship.

Girl, Stop Wasting Time - We Want the GWU Tea

Okay, okay! Before I literally copy/paste the fire I wrote in a response to George Washington University (GWU) on why I did not attend their program, I want to be clear, that my decision was based on my personal experience during the 2022 application cycle. I have friends who are alumni and currently attending GWU, so I'm not sharing this to bash their school. I am sharing because I think transparency is the only way to make change, and too many times we hide behind prestige, rankings, and white supremacy ideals of civility (that they don't even abide by themselves).

And to be even more clear I am not and will never turn a blind eye to the problematic aspects of Hopkins (Henrietta Lacks was not that long ago). I have already been calling them on their shit and making good trouble, starting with my first classes over the summer. There is no going back to silent Jasmine, ever. I am a force, and if you accept me into your space, be aware that I will comment, dissent, call you out, and propose how you can do better. (Here's a friendly reminder to support me financially by buying your Space-Taker merch - there's free shipping this month - no code needed!)

Below, you can read my response to GWU on why I did not choose to attend. It provides all of the context you need as succinctly as possible. After you read it, imagine me dropping the mic and walking away to never speak on it again - because that's what will happen after this is published. I'm done with it. I've shared my feedback with them multiple times and I can walk away knowing I did my best to make them aware of how I felt. It was an emotionally draining experience that went poorly very quick and one that I likely still haven't processed all that went into it. They made me question my worth and on my late Mommy's birthday showed their ass with racist remarks. The saddest part of it all, they honestly were my first choice as I submitted my applications because they were more open and warmer during the application process. No cap.

In any case, you live, you learn, and you end up where you belong. I know I belong at Hopkins, because they wanted me, they valued me, and they saw me. I wouldn't have wanted the outcome to be any different. Here you go...

I ultimately decided to not attend George Washington University for my DrPH on March 10, 2022, while I was attending an admitted students Zoom. I had been admitted to Johns Hopkins University but had no idea if I would receive the Bloomberg Fellowship. If I am honest, GWU had become my number one choice through the application process, but after the events that led up to and occurred on the night of March 10, it was clear that I could not attend GWU. While attending the admitted students Zoom, the director of the DrPH program made a racist comment to two of the international students attending from Nigeria when he stopped the introductions and asked if they knew each other. To be clear, at no point did he make similar comments to the numerous white people on the Zoom who stated that they worked and lived in cities within walking distance to each other. To assume that two Black people would know each other because they live in the same country was offensive and rooted in racism.

Prior to the admitted students Zoom, my impressions of GWU were starting to sour as I was in conversation with the financial aid and admissions department around my lack of financial assistance award. During my interview with GWU faculty, I was told that I could appeal the decision, if I had a compelling case, and as someone who knows my worth, I reached out to both departments to determine how I could appeal. I was quickly told that there was no such process and that all fellowships had been given to the "students that the faculty really wanted to attract to campus." When I inquired about the process for awarding fellowships, I was told, "The faculty reviewers use a holistic approach to awarding and there is nothing that I can point to that makes one candidate receive a scholarship over another." As someone who is passionately invested in equity and social justice, the lack of clarity on the process and what deciding factors go into awarding fellowships was astonishing to me. After I declined admission, I learned that other Black students had been under the impression that there would be more offerings of fellowships and also did not receive an offer.

While I knew that if I attended GWU I would be taking on the task of being a good troublemaker and teaching faculty how to apply a health equity lens to their curriculum, prior to these events, I was still willing to take that task on. However, between the inequitable process for financial assistance and the words from the DrPH director himself, I could not in good conscience put myself in another white space that would ultimately inflict more pain than good. I know I have made the right decision as GWU continues to have faculty like Leana Wen on staff, who has become one of the loudest voices of inequity and lack of public health values.

Wait, What's Next?

You really want me back in your inbox again? I kid. I know y'all love me. 💁🏾‍♀️The next time you hear from me, I'm thinking I can do a quick (and I mean bullet point quick) recap of my experience with summer term at Hopkins and depending on timing, you might be able to get the same for first term. Of course if there are any crucial hot topics that I need to discuss, they'll be mentioned too. If you have burning questions or topics you want my perspective on, let me know.

As I mentioned, I'm hoping to grow this community and reach people who may not know about me yet. If you like this issue, feel free to forward to a friend and tell them to subscribe. Also, make sure to answer the "Did you enjoy this issue?" question below. Analytics are important to a data geek like me.

Until next time, always remember to take up as much space as you need.