This week there is an Inquiry Conference for BYU field studies where previous field study students present what they learned in the field. I have gone to a few of the presentations so far, initially with the mindset of "I'm coming because my class requires it." But a few minutes into the first one, I realized how interesting and useful the information being shared was.
The first presentation I attended was from a guy who went to Tonga (just like I'm going) and studied traditional vs. western medicine. I realize that this is different from my project, however there are correlations I found. He spent a lot of time in the hospital in Vava'u shadowing and volunteering. When I go to Tonga, I hope to have the opportunity to spend some time in a hospital, interviewing doctors and asking about Alzhiemer's disease in order to gain a professional perspective. If possible, I would also try and volunteer as well, in whatever aspect I can, just to gain a little experience that way. I will also be taking a look at treatments for Alzhiemers disease, both traditional and modern if possible. After hearing about the differences between healers and regular doctors in Tonga, I am interested to see if there are remedies for Alzhiemers patients from traditional healers and how different they would be.
I also had the opportunity to go see the keynote speaker wednesday afternoon, and I honestly thoroughly enjoyed his presentation. What he said about the world really not being such a bad place once you get out there struck me as real. It's easy to see the world as an evil place from the safety of homes here in the U.S., or Provo specifically. Sure there are bad parts to it, but there are just as many good parts to match those. I look forward to expanding my horizons this summer and to continue to do the same throughout my life.
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