Manifesto

A social change agent steers others to desire and choose what is good, true, and beautiful. A social change agent is someone who has the courage to take on this world with aims to defend the dignity of the human person. It is someone who lives by example and not just by words. In good deeds, a person is likely to create lasting changes to counter the greed that abounds among large businesses and corporate owners. When I think of agent, I think of acting out of the free will. It is using that will to choose to do good to combat the greed that runs the world. I will intervene by loving in the smallest ways. Throughout my time as an ENST major, I realized that I do not have to do grand gestures to make a change but, to do “small things with great love,” as Saint Therese humbly said.

I want to impact those in healthcare and get them to realize that everyone deserves healthcare. When all is said and done, I take with me a deeper appreciation of the importance of a narrative. There are so many narratives that shape our world today and I leave HSU with a zest to learn more while humbly acknowledging I cannot know everything. Capstone has revealed to me that the ENST lens is a tool necessary to navigate through the world especially recognizing the harsh realities. For example, some people prefer profit over people, many come from a privileged background and do not recognize it, and science is not the end of all things. I would not feel fully alive if I did not speak up against injustice. ENST has equipped me with the tools to discern right from wrong.

Working at the Mad River Community Hospital for Service Learning was a wonderful opportunity. It has solidified my choice to pursue a second degree in Nursing. During one of my shifts, a patient entered the emergency room screaming because she was in so much pain. Her homecare nurse quit and left the bedridden woman to herself. I watched from a distance how one nurse tended to the woman’s physical needs. There lay a patient who could not physically care for herself, yet a nurse who did not know her readily remedied the wounds. I was inspired by the corporal work that the nurse took on because another chose to leave. Another example that shaped my world was at the bedside of a dying patient. I was up-front and personal with the woman on her deathbed. It was a turning point that made me realize that the worse people anyone can think of are mere humans. I would not want to wish death on a person.

In this capstone, I was able to recognize that there are many narratives that shape our world today. Furthermore, it is hard to define how the notion of social change in my life has manifested without factoring in the God who created me. Being a social change agent is made more worthy when I put my faith in God with whom anything is possible. It is through the virtue of charity that I aspire to live with unconditional love towards my neighbor. The impact, I made through service learning is that I helped nurses who are in the front lines of wound care. I did so by restocking the medicine room, which made sure they were readily supplied with the items they needed to care for patients. I also prepared Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) kits. Furthermore, I have learned that there is power in the act of  observance. Part of my job description was to do hand-hygiene observation where I recorded how many times the staff would clean their hands. The staff is supposed to wash their hands each time they enter and exit a patient’s room to prevent the spread of viruses. It was intriguing because I recognize how much observing I also do in ENST classes, mostly absorbing the many ideas in the class.

My capstone expectations were both exceeded and shifted. I used to think that because I am getting into a different field, then ENST is a total waste of time, but it is not. It is a helpful tool that has equipped me with interdisciplinary knowledge. I can confidently say I know a little bit about anthropology, power and privilege, economics, environmental research and writing, and tools in geospatial analysis. More specifically, the analysis of power and structure addresses the importance of not letting my own biases to keep me from helping another person in need, or to be misled by another person’s viewpoint by putting them in a box. It is humbling to know that there are so many limitations of working “within the system.” Being part of anything successful requires a handful of good leaders. Bureaucracy is part of any organization, yet any good working environment allows room for individuals to be themselves successfully.

My very next steps are to go home, love my family, and share with them the good that came out of my time at Humboldt State University. Shortly after, I plan to take a couple more classes to prepare me for Nursing school. My dream is to become a registered nurse and to support a family of my own. I move forward holding on to the wide array of knowledge the interdisciplinarity of ENST has offered me.