HOW A FAMILY HEALTH EMERGENCY LED ME TO #INTERNWITHPURPOSE
By Shaquille Boyd, Account Management Intern, Digitas Health
American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson may have written the phrase “the first wealth is health” in 1860, but the concept of “health is wealth” continues to resonate deeply with me today. When I was growing up, I never fully considered the tremendous impact health has on everyone’s life. Oftentimes when we are in good health, we take for granted how fortunate we are and don’t stop to think about how others may struggle with health issues on a day-to-day basis.
I always was physically active, so I never really thought that I’d have to personally deal with health concerns. I played sports year-round and was almost certain that as long as I stayed fit and strong, I would have absolutely nothing to worry about. Unfortunately, I was wrong. I didn’t consider that just because I might be healthy myself, it doesn’t mean that the people closest to me were in the same boat.
My dad has always been my best friend. He’s always been one of my biggest heroes and someone who I looked up to since I was a child. I still vividly remember the day that I got the phone call from my Mom on my way home from school, informing me that my Dad had been admitted to the hospital.
Upon arrival, we were told by a nurse that my dad suffered from a stroke. That day single-handedly changed the course of my life more than anything else before. The life that we once knew had come to a standstill and we quickly recognized that my dad would never be able to live life like he had before. Fortunately, by the grace of God, he is still with us today.
We always knew my dad had minor health issues, but no one paid too much attention to it. This mindset is what came back to haunt us later. From this day forward, I made a promise to myself to take healthcare more seriously than anything else. Seeing how my dad was affected by such a major healthcare issue at a young age made me realize that your life can change at any given moment and much of happiness starts out with being healthy enough to enjoy your life experiences.
When I first came across the opportunity to intern at Publicis Health, the saying “intern with purpose” is what stuck out to me. I knew exactly what my purpose would be if I were to be selected and brought on as a 2022 summer intern. My purpose would be working in an industry that made such a major impact on my life. My purpose would be staying true to the promise that I made to myself years ago. My purpose would be putting my time into work that I knew I would be passionate about. Along with learning a tremendous amount about such an impactful industry and meeting some amazing people, I’m happy that I have been able to #InternWithPurpose, and that “purpose” really means a lot to me.
Shaquille Boyd is a 2022 Account Management Intern at Digitas Health in Philadelphia. He is pursuing a major in Advertising with a minor in Strategic Communications at Rowan University (Class of 2023). A fun fact about Shaquille is that he loves music. At a young age he fell in love with music and with the process of making it. He enjoys helping people put together ideas for new musical projects.
