Our Happiness and Wellness Initiative shares "Some Good News" from the SPH and our extended community. You can submit your own good news by email to: happyandwell@umd.edu.
During the summer of 2020, as the University of Maryland and much of the world was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Emma Apostol '22 (BCH) found herself seeking health care for an unrelated medical mystery.
Surrounded by young children, coloring books, Disney cartoons and doctors using words like “belly” and “potty,” Emma felt out of place at Boston Children’s Hospital. The children’s hospital typically treats kids up to age 18, yet doctors made an exception for 20-year-old Emma.
Only a few months prior, Emma lost 60 pounds, along with her appetite and cheerful disposition. This, along with multiple trips to the bathroom, began to worry Emma and her family. Early lab work with multiple pricks and pokes led to her losing consciousness and a discovery that Emma had Vasovagal syncope—a rapid drop in heart rate that made it challenging to draw for blood. Determined to get answers, Emma braved more days and rounds of poking and prodding resulting in black and blue arms, and she endured multiple scans.
Still unsure of what was causing her illness, Emma’s family begged doctors at Boston’s Children’s Hospital to accept her based on her rare case.
“I may have felt out of place there, but I had some of the best doctors,” Emma said.
“Despite being overwhelmed, I felt better that they were finally able to diagnose me.”
After multiple visits with Boston Children’s Hospital pediatricians, gastroenterologists, urologists, rheumatologists and nutritionists, doctors diagnosed Emma with microscopic lymphatic colitis, a severe case of Raynaud’s disease, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (AFRID).
While the world was navigating a pandemic and practically turned upside down, Emma fought an illness that made every day harder than the one before. Yet, she found strength and resilience from the support of medical and public health professionals. Emma’s doctors worked with her to ensure her physical health would return to what it once was.
They also supported her in addressing mental health needs that arose from her chronic medical issues. Their continual check-ins motivated Emma to push through each day.
While Emma knew she was facing a lifelong chronic illness, she also developed resilience to persevere and a positive mindset to rise above life’s challenges.
“My experience showed me why we need quality medical and public health professionals, and it inspired me to follow in their footsteps,” Emma explained.
My experience showed me why we need quality medical and public health professionals, and it inspired me to follow in their footsteps.
Emma now aspires to help individuals and communities build and maintain healthy wellness practices. She understands firsthand that learning to balance a healthy life with an enjoyable one is not always easy. There are no magic tricks to being healthy; rather, behaviors and support systems must support individual and community needs. She understands firsthand how access to health care and health information are critical to fully and successfully address health needs.
When it comes to being healthy, Emma knows that not everyone has the same access to receive adequate care and achieve their goals. Based on her lived experience and through rigorous coursework at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, Emma has gained numerous public health skills that she can apply to address health disparities and promote equitable care. She has taken courses explaining health behaviors and decision-making theories, health literacy, and health communication. Emma has studied program planning and knows how to write, implement and evaluate programs and seek grants to fund these programs.
Fighting a chronic illness through multiple pandemics has made it difficult for Emma to gain exposure to applied, real-world experiences in the public health field. However, during her final semester, Emma is completing a semester-long, full-time internship with the University of Maryland School of Public Health Happiness and Wellness Initiative, where she is working to strengthen the happiness and wellness of the SPH, campus and community partners through communication, training, curriculum, research, and assessment.
“I am beyond excited that I have been able to put my knowledge and academics to the test while diving deeper into my greater interests of health promotion and health education,” exclaimed Emma.
“It is fulfilling and inspiring to witness the impact of the self and community care projects I and my co-intern Alexsis Rubio '22 (BCH) have implemented.”
Emma is taking the lessons learned from her academic training, the COVID-19 and racism pandemics, and her internship into her next stage of life—completing an MPH at Emory University starting this Fall. She plans to expand her knowledge and put her skills to use by helping underserved communities to plan and implement community-run health programming.
Emma has learned that the most rewarding part of promoting health and wellness is witnessing how individuals, families, and communities benefit from her work.
While Emma isn’t quite sure of her exact career pathway, she knows that her unique experiences will help her address and ultimately eliminate gaps that limit people from living full, long and thriving lives.