"We Criticize The Things We Love"

As I sat in the Langford Auditorium at Vanderbilt University, waiting for my daughter’s favorite author to step out, I couldn't help but notice the students around me. Each with their own story, their own pressures, their own reasons for being there. They reminded me so much of my own students - their resilience, their challenges, and the invisible weight they carry while trying to learn in a world that rarely slows down enough to meet them where they are.

As someone who works with future healthcare professionals everyday, I see those same realities in my classroom. I love teaching. I love helping people grow. And I love the professions I’ve committed my life to. But I’ve also seen the toll they take. In healthcare, burnout rates climb while the need for compassion never slows. In education, students are juggling school, jobs, families, and mental health in ways that often feel impossible. People are struggling for many reasons (neurodiversity, trauma, environmental pressures, and countless other factors that shape how they show up each day). Too often, our systems overlook these struggles, leaving individuals to carry them alone.

I carry those realities with me daily, and with them, a nagging question: if I love these fields so much, why do I find myself critiquing them so often?

That’s why what happened next mattered. In response to an audience member's question, R.F. Kuang said, “We criticize the things we love,” which stopped me in my tracks. In that moment, something inside me released. I realized my critiques weren’t betrayal - they were love.

My own journey has shown me these pressures from many sides. As a COTA working across many settings, as a patient learning to live with chronic pain, and as an educator watching students fight for balance. Again and again, I’ve seen good people stretched thin inside systems that ask too much.

And that’s why I’m here. Not because I’ve lost faith in healthcare or education, but because I love them. I believe they are beautiful, dynamic, and messy. And I believe they can be better.

This blog is where I’ll wrestle with those questions, share stories, and search for possibilities. I don’t pretend to have all the answers. But I do believe that asking the right questions, together, is where change begins — because everything matters, including your story!

What you’ll find here:

• Honest reflections on healthcare, education, and the people inside them

  
  

• Big questions about how we can design systems that truly serve the whole person

  
  

• Stories and lived experiences that connect research to life

  
  

• Tools and perspectives to help individuals build balance, resilience, and purpose

  
  

• Evidence, statistics, and research - for those who love data (like me) and for those who want more than just opinions

  
  

• And let's be honest with one another - probably a few rabbit holes along the way

Wherever you're coming from, I hope you'll find something here that resonates.