Hello everyone! I can’t believe I only have ten days left in Malawi! These last few weeks are definitely flying by, and with Dr. Oden, Dr. Richards-Kortum, and Dr. Leautaud in town for the week, I feel like our schedules are even more packed than usual! Caleb, Jacinta and I have been busy this week, wrapping up some of our final meetings with PAM and the POLY, and organizing the last of the repaired CPAPs in the office. I feel like my post at the end of the week would be a better time to wrap up the loose ends of this week, so today I am going to jump on the bandwagon and write a different format of posts:

This summer, our team has really bonded over our (almost) daily insanity workouts, so I thought I would write a post about the similarities I see between insanity and the BTB internship!

1. It Requires Dedication

Both BTB and Insanity workouts are a commitment. At the beginning of the summer, my fellow interns and I committed not only to work out together, but also to serve as interns together. Neither of these commitments can be successful if they are taken lightly. Doing an insanity workout every day may mean making sacrifices, staying up late, or taking some extra time to do a workout instead of reading a book. However, in the end, the feeling you get after a workout is definitely reward. Similarly, the BTB internship is not a commitment that can be made lightly. Accepting this internship for the summer meant committing to work during, before, and after the internship to ensure the success of our projects.

 2. It Requires Hard Work

Not only do we have to be willing to put in work every day, but as interns and people who are working out, we need to be willing to work hard every day. It would be very easy to go to an insanity work out and jog at half speed, skipping half of the exercises. However, then we would not get in any better shape! Likewise, if we, as interns, sat around the BTB office all day and did minimal data entry and CPAP repairs in order to look busy, we would not be productive or helpful to the hospital.

3. The Results aren’t Immediate

Neither insanity nor the BTB internship have immediate results. Working out with insanity, it will take weeks or even months to notice that you are getting more in shape, able to run faster or do more push ups. Similarly, the changes we make as interns are definitely long term. Sometimes it will be months before the programs we make, CPAPs we repair, or manuals we create are implemented and used. However, in the long run, the work we are doing will make a difference.

 4. Teamwork and Encouragement are Key

Working out, or working in the BTB office, can be tiring and overwhelming at times. It is easy to struggle with the magnitude of work that needs to be done, not knowing where to start. Other days, when it’s raining outside and the work seems endless, it is hard to get out of bed. That’s why it is important that we as teammates are there for each other. If someone is having a hard day or a rough week, encouragement from teammates and working together can make a hard task easier or a bad day better.

5. It’s a Lot of Fun!

This entire summer has been lots of work, very rewarding, and also really fun! From insanity workouts (where Jacinta giggles the whole time and the rest of us die of exhaustion) to hanging out in the office, I am incredibly fortunate to have been given the opportunity to work with such a fun group of people!