Why did you choose the Yale School of Public Health?
I chose YSPH hands down because of the amazing community and the emphasis on community building. I also was moved by Yale’s culture of innovation, diverse international student body, and amazing faculty.
What were you doing before enrolling at YSPH?
Before coming to YSPH, I worked as an end-of-life doula with a hospice in the Bay Area, taught yoga to seniors in nursing homes, and was pursuing my birth doula certification. Prior to that, I was working in health innovation labs where I developed products for seniors using human-centered design, helped scale a behavior change program, created legacy documentaries for individuals at end of life, and had the honor of bearing witness to numerous stories of love, loss, and awe. Before school started, I took the summer to solo backpack through Indonesia, the Philippines, and Japan. Ask me about the time I saw a live cremation in Bali or volunteered at a birthing center in Palawan!
In addition to deeply cherishing the amazing, brilliant, kind people I’ve met, I selected the SBS department because of its focus on health equity and social justice.
Brit Fleck
What are your favorite aspects of the YSPH academic program?
In addition to deeply cherishing the amazing, brilliant, kind people I’ve met, I selected the SBS department because of its focus on health equity and social justice. Its flexibility also allows me to tailor my classes to my interdisciplinary interests. I love that I have the opportunity to take courses from other Yale schools to really personalize exactly what I want out of the MPH degree.
What was your most impactful experience outside of class?
I joined an amazing cooperative house in East Rock – a cherished home and community space with grad students across different Yale schools. We have nightly meals together, share groceries and chores, organize lovely events, and uphold values of open communication, mutual respect, and a community spirit. This support system has been so invaluable to me, and I can’t imagine my Yale experience without it. Additionally, I lead a monthly moon circle for graduate Jewish women, teach a weekly yoga class at the Good Life Center, and serve on the Connecticut Hospice Student Advisory board, which all have been incredibly impactful as well.
Do you have a favorite Yale place or New Haven food?
I love biking or hiking to the top of East Rock Park and watching the sunset!
What do you hope to do after graduation?
I hope to work directly with the dying and birthing people as both an end-of-life and birth doula. I want to support people in their most intimate moments – the ones that make me feel most alive. I have many dreams of one day opening my own center for the dying, building a community death care network, becoming a women’s health nurse practitioner, living in nature in community, and traveling the world with my love, Noah!