Sarah Auer ’12 by Fletcher Bonin ’13

Sarah Auer ’12

by Fletcher Bonin ’13

Affixed to the wall next to the door in my parents’ house is an abrupt metal bar with short hooks extending from the bottom. Several limp masks dangle off of these hooks. Some are faded tie-dye colors while others bear small print images like crossed oars or colorful lettering. These patterns, like the pandemic-mask accent piece neatly centered on the wall, are distinguishable as the high-water mark of taste in the COVID-19 era.

The reason for my intimate familiarity with the wallmounted pandemic accoutrement in my parents’ home is because I (like many Americans fortunate enough to do so) have fled from the hazards of the country’s metropoli to instead ZOOM from the safety of the suburbs. This flight has landed me back on Portsmouth Abbey’s campus, where my parents - Dr. and Mrs. Bonin - continue to live and teach. However, the pandemic has temporarily ended the stigma of the twenty-something male moving back in with his parents (or at least that’s what I’ve been telling myself).

That said, there are far worse places to be trapped during a global pandemic than Portsmouth Abbey - especially in the summer. Like many others, we have discovered that the train tracks at the bottom of Cory’s Lane offer one of the more spectacular routes for a CDC-encouraged social distance walk. Trekking about campus, one might encounter the delightfully impassioned chatter of Mr. Micheletti engaged in a fervent discussion with one of his knee-high children. Taking out the trash is no longer the mundane nightly chore it used to be, but rather an opportunity for a pleasant dumpster-side chat with Mr. Calisto. And even though much of our time is spent indoors, my family has discovered a veritable menagerie right in our front yard - cardinals, turkeys, chipmunks, squirrels, a recalcitrant gopher, woodpeckers, a skunk, and of course the chickens from Señor Guerenabarrena’s coop that occasionally meander across our shared driveway. (Insider tip: if you’d like to see Dr. Bonin’s face alight with an expression approaching childlike giddiness, you need only ask him how many species of birds he’s seen on his daily bird-walk.)

The point is that in the age of COVID-19, every human interaction (from six feet apart, of course) is a welcome one. Despite the uncertainty and fear that governs much of the present, the Abbey campus remains a stunning outcropping of Aquidneck Island peopled with friendly individuals, a fact not to be overlooked when so many people are suffering. Fortunately, not all Portsmouth Abbey alumni come back to live with their parents. In fact, the school has produced many men and women who continue to exemplify Reverence, Respect, and Responsibility well beyond their graduation dates and into their careers.

One such alumna is Sarah Auer ’12. Having completed her Master of Public Health degree at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in May, Sarah entered the workforce with a highly applicable skill set given the ubiquity of the pandemic. Unsurprisingly, the demand for public health professionals has never been higher. She quickly landed a job with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, or CSTE, in Atlanta. In her new role, Sarah is deeply involved in the nation’s coronavirus response. For the next year or so, she will be working on CSTE’s epidemiology capacity assessment. Generally speaking, this assignment will entail a detailed examination of how effectively health departments across the country addressed the virus in their respective communities.

Of course, Sarah’s interest in public health predates the coronavirus pandemic. She became interested in public health after majoring in anthropology at Skidmore College. As an undergrad, Sarah took a course in medical anthropology and was intrigued by how societies deal with illness and disease. She became especially interested in maternal and child health, Sarah says, “because the United States fares pretty poorly on health outcomes for mothers and babies despite how ‘developed’ we are as a nation.” This burgeoning curiosity led her to the MPH program at Emory University. There she learned that there are a multitude of ways to contribute to public health, from evaluating ongoing programs to exploring the ways the environment impacts people’s health. As Sarah puts it, “my favorite saying about public health is that if we are doing our job right, the public barely knows it’s happening. I think that’s true now more than ever.”

These aspects of public health work still excite Sarah, and she is grateful that her new position with CSTE will allow her to be involved in evaluation and research. Her “favorite part” of working with public health data is “the ethical responsibility of doing something with that research.” The action-oriented nature of the field appeals to Sarah, as does the tangibility of its societal benefits. As she states, public health has “always contributed to bettering the health of the population.” At its core and by its very nature, public health is “important work because it is making people’s lives better.”

While Sarah admits that the coronavirus is fascinating from a public health perspective, she is more interested in the latent crises that the pandemic has laid bare. For her, “the pandemic has served to further demonstrate deeper issues within our nation, like racism, that play out in people’s health outcomes. We cannot look at population health without understanding the circumstances and stressors that people live with every day.” Furthermore, “the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized that my work in maternal and child health (and public health, generally) must always be intersectional. The outcomes for COVID-19 are not the same across race and class and that is not a coincidence.” Sarah sees the lack of adequate funding for public health initiatives as a symptom of greater fissures in the American healthcare system, “which is disappointing because public health is paramount.” When asked if there was one piece of advice she might impart to readers looking for guidance in the midst of this pandemic, her answer is simple: “Wear a mask! The things we can do to protect ourselves are really easy and really cheap. It’s working in other countries, and that’s all you need to know.” On this topic of personal responsibility, Sarah is emphatic. “Listen to scientists! Epidemiologists have existed for a long time, and COVID-19 should never be political.”

Sarah reflects on a formative moment at the Abbey that influenced her current career and interests. Even before matriculating at Skidmore, Sarah foresaw a slightly different path from many of her fellow Class of 2012 graduates. In a move that she deems “unconventional,” she took a gap year before starting college, which “ultimately allowed me to graduate college in three years and get more public health experience before pursuing my MPH.” She credits Ms. Smith with encouraging this decision. In her capacity as Sarah’s college counselor, “Ms. Smith supported this decision from the outset and never made me question taking a slightly different path from many of my peers. I think my gap year allowed me to hone my interests before attending college and impacted the path I am on today.”

I have little doubt that long after these days of mask wearing, compulsive hand sanitizing, and awkward fist bumps in lieu of handshakes are over, Sarah will still be addressing the public health needs of our country’s most vulnerable citizens. When so much uncertainty has disrupted our daily lives, it is comforting to know that people like Sarah are hard at work addressing society’s most pressing concerns.

Fletcher Bonin ’13 is a second-year master’s candidate in the Catholic University of America English Department where he also works in the Writing Center. After completing a BA in English Literature at Salve Regina University, he taught English to elementary students in Chiayi, Taiwan, and then worked at a TV studio in Manhattan. His literary interests include 19th-century American literature, authors of the diaspora, and creative writing.