My name is John Hicks and I am a senior attending Oregon State University. After fall 2012, I will have earned my Bachelor of Science in Public Health with a focus on Health Promotion and Health Behavior. Currently, I work as the student assistant to the endowed director of Oregon State University’s Hallie E. Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families, a brand new building dedicated to research and outreach. I am proud to be part of the team and enjoy walking through the doors each day, helping keep the Center up and running and maintaining a professional environment that promotes innovative research in the health of children and families.
Previous to my public health degree, I was a Liberal Studies/New Media Communications major, but time after time I would stand back and realize that NMC was just not the way I wanted to travel in life. The major was treated as a catchall for other students that would bail on their original academic paths. I am here, in college, learning such that I may go into a career that will last the rest of my life. Let’s do this right, and lets follow not only our instincts, but our dreams!
Despite leaving New Media Communications long ago, I still hold onto my love for writing and technology. In my freshman year of college I created this blog — and really it started out nothing like this. Studio Monroe has undergone many transformations, from visuals and posting techniques, to site titles and entry themes. Yet, through all the evolution, I have still kept one factor fixed… And that is the idea of professionalism. I believe in outfitting my site with the best quality and clean appearances. I like to keep it simple, yet have ranges where I can make my site have depth. I will continue to be on board with this experience, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
I love my major and I love my classes and professors. Their intelligence and expertise in the areas of public health amaze me, and I hope to be as knowledgeable as them someday. Currently, amongst a handful of other topics, I have a growing interest in mental health — depression and the human action of coping with situations — to be more specific. I think this area intrigues me so much because I can relate to it.
Prior to my college sophomore year I was dealing with a few heavy burdens on my shoulders. Being an obese gay man was not easy to deal with. By the middle of my high school years I had come to more strongly understand who I am and what I wanted from myself and from life… And all I knew was that I was a long way from these visions and I didn’t know how to get there. As time progressed, I slowly built momentum and determination to make a significant change in my lifestyle. I experienced my most significant depression in my college freshman year. I had assumed that college would bring about so much change on its own and that I would get the opportunity to break free and begin to be the person I could see on my inside. It didn’t turn out like this, and nothing changed. But it was not until the next year would I get this chance and have the means necessary to pursue my goals.
Along came sophomore year — the time for change was upon me and I was ready for the work and endeavor. By the end of my sophomore year, through rigorous exercise and dieting I had shed 75 pounds, dropping my Body Mass Index (BMI) from 35.2 down to 23.5. The physical change also gradually gave way to a perhaps even greater psychological rebirth. It is difficult for me to remember “the old me”, but all I can really recall is that every single aspect of my life has drastically improved.
About a year and a half after my initial weight loss I decided to begin another chapter of my transformation. I got into lifting weights thanks to the help from a great friend. Today, you can find me at the gym nearly every morning getting my lift on. Hands down… Life is amazing. Of everything that exists in this universe, there is only one single thing that you have sole control over… And that is your body. It is all up to you to make your goals come true. I know you can do it, if you really want it, and if you can see that real you on the inside.
I am finally out to my family and friends. I am finally able to love my body. I have finally found myself. I am finally free.
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