Exponent Article

I'd like to post an article I wrote for the Purdue Exponent. My blog has been so focused on Com 435 that you probably are unaware of what else I've been up to this semester!

Student plans move to Ecuador after graduation 

By Sarah Perrott

Staff Reporter

Publication Date: 04/26/2010

Photo provided by Emily McHugh

Nursing student Emily McHugh during one of her service trips to Ecuador for the Timmy Foundation.

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Editor’s note: This is the first of a five-part series highlighting students who are graduating from Purdue in May.

Nursing student Emily McHugh is known to friends as “Flow” – after Florence Nightingale, the Mother of Nursing.

The name fits the part, as McHugh is known as the woman who will do anything and always goes with the flow. Moving to Ecuador seems like nothing out of the ordinary for senior McHugh.

According to McHugh’s close friend Katie Collins, a senior in the School of Nursing, “Emily is a free spirit, always helping others, adventurous and down for anything – in a good way.”

Helping others is something McHugh strives for. In both 2007 and 2008, she went to Ecuador on service trips with the Timmy Foundation, an Indianapolis-based non-profit organization which sends brigades of college students to various countries to aid those needing medical attention. The foundation partners with other organizations as a way to maintain relationships with the local community while meeting their needs. As McHugh anticipates her May graduation, she is planning her move to Quito, Ecuador, to work with an Ecuadorian partner of the Timmy Organization, Tierra Nueva.

McHugh said she has a love of helping others, especially those needing medical attention in Ecuador.

“The first time I went to Ecuador I fell in love with the people,” said McHugh. “Then, I fell in love with Tierra Nueva and the medical work they were doing in such an impoverished country.”

While McHugh’s plans are not yet finalized, she has set a few goals for her future. She hopes to become fluent in Spanish. Her previous work in U.S. hospitals has made evident the need for nurses who can sufficiently communicate medical terms and conditions to comfort Spanish-speaking patients. Although McHugh is not completely fluent at this point in time, her Spanish is “workable” and she feels comfortable and ready to learn it.

McHugh sees herself living for two years in Ecuador, working for Tierra Nueva while forming relationships with the people she meets. She hopes to some day bring her knowledge, experience and newly learned vocabulary back to a hospital in the United States.

The excited senior seems ready for the adventure she’s planned. Her friends probably think she’s “crazy” and McHugh seemingly agrees with them. As a member of the Purdue Triathlon Club, McHugh competed in the U.S.A. National Triathlon competition, finishing first for Purdue University with a time of two hours and 46 minutes, for a 1.5km (0.9 mile) swim, 40km (24 mile) bike and 10km (6.2 mile) run. She admitted the craziest part of completing the Olympic-length triathlon was the 54 degree water temperature and the 48 degree air temperature.

Besides finishing five triathlons, McHugh has ran one full-length marathon and eight half-marathons, her latest race completed the Saturday morning of Grand Prix weekend. The goals she met while competing in various races proves McHugh can do anything she sets her mind on doing – especially if it involves something she is passionate about.

And passionate describes the attitude McHugh will bring to her work as a Medical Brigade Coordinator for Tierra Nueva. She will help maintain a connection between the Ecuador organization and organizations like the Timmy Foundation. McHugh hopes to find the time to work as a nurse in an Ecuadorian hospital as well.

“I want to be working with patients in Ecuador, improving their quality of life,” said McHugh.

While McHugh has spent her years in college building relationships with a group of close friends, they all know their adventurous friend will be happy doing what she loves in Ecuador.

“I think Emily going to Ecuador is great,” said Collins. “You couldn’t ask for a better thing to do with your life.”

The End of 435!

     The last nine posts on this blog have given only a brief explanation of what I've learned by taking Com 435. I remember a few months back thinking I was caught up with technology. I had just forced myself to get a Twitter account, and I figured that was the point technology was at. I thought I had joined the newest social media site available to the public and therefore was up to date on all technology. Now I realize how far I was from the truth. This class dug way deeper into emerging technologies and allowed me to catch a glimpse of their impact on society.
     I had no idea how big of an impact technology has on the individual. I have learned of our dependence on these technologies, and how our world is structured around technology, particularly the newest technologies. Technology is so integrated into our lives we cannot even see the impact it has until we take a step back and study it.
     For example, the computer. If students at Purdue University had to take Com 435 twenty years ago, they would have learned about the different parts of the computer technologies linked with the computer, like e-mail, printer, internet, etc. Now, those things are so integrated into everyday use we seldom take the time to realize they too, were once emerging.
     The whole point of this is that all the technologies we've studied in Com 435 are what the future is made of. From GPS to robotics to virtual reality to social media, our future is comprised of what's being invented and integrated now. Now I realize how much of our lives are based around these technologies and what sorts of social implications are emerging.
    The future looks bright in terms of technology, I just hope I can stay caught up!

Virtual Reality

     As mentioned in a past blog post, virtual reality is becoming more and more advanced. Weopia, for instance, is one example of where technology is headed. Weopia, an online dating site, combines online dating and virtual reality into one place, where two people dating can meet up to go on "real" dates.
     But, what about other virtual realities? This week our communication class had the opportunity to visit the Purdue Envision Center. I was shocked to see what is under development here at Purdue University and how far we can take 3D.
     We experienced the opportunity to test the equipment and seee one project being undertaken now. The Envision center has partnered with a pharmaceutical class at Purdue to create an environment students can take part in in order to prepare them for future jobs as pharmacists. Abbey Moorman posted a great article on her blog describing what virtual reality is all about and what is being accomplished at Purdue.
Purdue is also working to map out history through the use of virtual reality. We were told about an ongoing project to recreate historical places, so vistors could tour them, experiencing what it would have been like to be there years ago verses now. While we were able to step into 3D world during our recitation, there are other ways this technology is being incorporated into every day use.

Check out the various Purdue Envision Center Projects

3D Geographic Exploration is becoming increasingly common. This google option allows us to experience what a place is like without ever stepping foot at the location. See Video Below:

Legs

I am fascinated by Aimee Mullins and her outlook on life, despite having no legs. After viewing the ten minute speech and hearing her positive outlook on her situation and how it relates to technology, I am fascinated by this girl. As an avid runner myself, I've always asked myself, "What would I do with no legs."
I am intrigued with how advanced our world has become with manufacturing fake body parts. Otherwise handicapped individuals now have the opportunity to walk-- or even bike, run, swim, or become a track star and model like Aimee Mullins. If I had been alive 30 years ago, I might have seen this coming. At the pace technology moves, its no surprise we have robotic like parts that can be attached to the complex human body. However, I never could have predicted quite how far technology has taken robotics, or as big of a cultural debate that would arise.
While there are a vast numbers of implants and technologies that have been created by humans that could be implanted into humans (cochlear implants, ears implanted on any part of the body, sense machines, to name a few), I will simply focus on the culture implications of legs.
Aimee Mullins, for example, had to have her legs amputated by her first birthday. According to her website , she participated in all normal activities with her friends, who all had real legs. She later went on to graduate with all academic honors and become a track star, model, and actress in movies. She now frequently speaks and works with non-profits and is the center of a variety of art pieces, displaying different legs Aimee wears. Is this fair? I never thought there would be a day where we'd be asking, "Is it fair for someone who has fake legs to have fake legs?" There is much irony in this statement, but Aimee Mullins does have some advantages. She can change her height at any moment. Her legs can match her dress. She can put on special made legs to help her run faster. At what point will technology advance far enough so someone like Aimee could attach jets to her legs and fly up in the air?

I personally think that Aimee was born into this world with a disadvantage, and I admire her for taking the situation she was in and making beyond the most of it. As robotics continue to advance, it will be interesting to see how people react. If people can buy special additions to their bodies (which, if you think about it, breast implants, etc. are already an example), how much more of an advantage will they have?

2 Days in the sun and I'm thinking: "globalization"

Traveling abroad allows me to realize how mobile and globalized our world is really becoming. I am currently babysitting for a family who is vacationing in Cancun, Mexico. Our flight from the U.S. was not even 4 hours long, but we're still in another country, and so is the technology we brought with us. I'm on my laptop and could be on my phone (if it wasn't so expensive). We could also use GPS systems and other technologies from country to country. While traveling, I notice how technologically advanced we truly are, and how mobile those technologies have become.
In class we studied a brief history of computers. A few short decades ago, the few people who did vacation frequently to other countries definitely did not have the same sort of connections we can today to our family and friends back home. If it were 20 years ago, or even less, I would have just told my friends and family I'd see them when I returned from my vacation. Now, we have the technology to plan in advance whether we should chat verses instant messaging, facebooking, Skype, texting or many others. I think this is what leads us to be more globalized as a Universe. Also, with these technologies we are able to leave a country and maintain relationships we started while abroad. For instance, I can keep in touch with the family I lived with in Spain through a variety of ways. Twenty years ago, this was not the case. Now, people have connections to people in various parts of the globe, marking the push to globalization.