I am no where near witty enough to come up with a headline that will entice you.

Hello, my name is Laura and I am a global health and communications professional with an academic background in human rights law.

^ yep, that’s it. You know, I’ve spent the majority of my day trying to figure out how the hell to introduce my brand spanking new, bright & shiny blog in a way that will ~entice people~ and make me seem ~interesting~. Hell, I even Googled how to write a good first blog post. I work in COMMUNICATIONS, and I Googled how to write a good first blog post. The shame.

As is evidenced above, I have given up.

So why on earth have I put myself through the cold-sweats terror that is creating a public writing platform? Why have I decided to enter the intricate yet drastically over-crowded online community of foodies, fashionistas and DIY-fanatics known as the blogosphere?

Because on April 21st 2015, at approximately 7:18am on a Saturday morning in Melbourne, I opened up my email inbox to a letter from Global Health Corps inviting me to spend the next 13 months in New York City as one of their Fellows.

Questions aside as to why the hell I was awake at 7:18am on a Saturday, here I now am. I managed to pack up entire my two-bedroom apartment into my parents’ basement, I quit my job as the National Manager of the Ethiopiaid Australia Foundation, said goodbye to my dog —

— and pushed my protesting body through the sheer torture that is the 23-hour trip from Melbourne to New York City. I then spent a whirlwind two weeks training at Yale University with 133 other like-minded bad-asses who were so impressive that they made me feel like a fraud, about to be discovered at any moment (but they didn’t, suckers). They made me talk about my feelings a lot, but I forgave them. Now I’m back in NYC with a mandate: kick global health as we know it up the butt.

Global Health Corps, headed up by Barbara Bush, is a community of young professionals who believe in global health and social justice. It’s a community of young professionals that see the links between human rights and healthy living. It’s a community of young professionals that think it’s about time to shake things up a little. Did you know that a lot of people aren’t interested in global health, and that they don’t find global health particularly sexy? I know, I was shocked too. But for the first time in history we are living in a world where major global health challenges can actually be fixed.

And no one gives a shit.

^ That? That’s not okay.

So, here I am, one of 134 GHC fellows who are all working to try and change that. I have been appointed as Donor Relations Manager at an organisation called Housing Works, and it’s literally the coolest place I’ve ever been to in my life. No joke, I’m not cool enough to be here but they haven’t cottoned onto that yet (Why do I spend so much of my life thinking I’m a big fat fraud that’s gonna get busted?). And so until they figure out that I am disastrously uncool, I have been enlisted to help them promote their incredibly vital work: end the dual crises of homelessness and AIDS through relentless advocacy, the provision of lifesaving services, and entrepreneurial businesses that sustain their efforts.

SEE? THEY’RE SO COOL.

Of course, for all the global health butt-kicking I will be attempting, I am still a 24 year-old single gal living in NYC. I’m experiencing America for the first time. I’m exposed to new places, new food, new bars, new people (new men!), new histories, new social structures, new politics, new social issues, new anger, new unknowns. It’s going to be overwhelming. It already is. And I would like to document these experiences.

So why am I writing a blog instead of keeping a journal?

Because I have more questions than answers.

In the last 30 days since my arrival in the United States of America, Dylaan Roof has shot dead nine black church-goers in Charleston, Donald Trump has declared he will build a wall on the Southern U.S. border and make Mexico pay for it, Taylor Swift has been accused of colorblind post-feminism, two videos have been released accusing Planned Parenthood of harvesting and selling baby organs for profit, a man has walked into a cinema with a gun and killed two young women, and Sandra Bland has died in a Texas jail with an autopsy allegedly confirming that it was suicide by hanging. With a plastic bag.

Drake has been accused of using a ghost writer.

And I am not in a position to have the answers to so many questions that arise from the intricate issues that underpin the fabric of current events. But I am in a position to learn, to ask questions. To ask you questions. My favourite thing in the whole world is watching people create dialogue. There is no greater beauty than watching people talk.

So hello, my name is Laura and I am a global health and communications professional with an academic background in human rights law. I’m also new to NYC, new to the U.S. and I’m too curious for my own good. The next 12 months is gonna be a hell of a ride and I want to talk to you about it.