Like many first-year college students, Yasmin Ahmed, who uses they/them pronouns, suffered from a bit of imposter syndrome when they arrived at UW in 2014. Although Yasmin was born in Seattle, they hadn’t been in the Pacific Northwest since they were a small child. Their family lived first in Muscat, Oman—where they recall playing in [...]

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You could say that Joseph de Veyra did not find nursing – nursing found him. Arriving in the U.S. as a 21-year-old immigrant from the Philippines with just $100 in his pocket, Joseph took advantage of the first opportunity that presented itself: caregiving. This early position quickly morphed into a certified nursing assistant (CNA) role. [...]

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It’s hard to be healthy when you’re poor. It’s hard to be healthy when you’re unhoused. Or when you are hungry, unemployed or underemployed, or unsafe. When you’re disabled or have a chronic illness. Or if you are Black or brown, LGBTQ+, an immigrant or refugee, or if you have other or multiple marginalized identities. [...]

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When Lucas Harrington was in college, his life was all about magic: magic after classes, magic every Friday night, and magic on the weekends in giant multiplayer games that carried on late into the night. Not the magic of card tricks and sleight-of-hand, however – Lucas’ preoccupation was with the wildly popular tabletop and digital [...]

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In March 2020, UW became the first university in the country to move to fully remote classes, in an effort to stem the burgeoning tide of what were the first reported cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) infection in the U.S. It was an unprecedented decision, followed in short order by other universities across the country. Eighteen [...]

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Christine Lew is mad, and she wants to tell people about it.   It’s not so much that she’s angry, although she feels that kind of mad, too, when she encounters overt ableism or systemic barriers to disabled people.   No, Christine’s kind of mad is crazy-mad, insane-mad, mental-illness mad. She has long-term depression and panic-attack-inducing anxiety, [...]

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Leo Egashira is a man of many interests and pursuits. Talking to him, the word multipotentialite – a fancy new term for an old idea, of the polymath or Renaissance person – comes to mind. The research coordinator with UW’s Indigenous Wellness Research Institute celebrates his 68th birthday this month, but he has no plans [...]

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The Whole U is thrilled to re-introduce our Spotlight column, now titled People of UW, to highlight the incredible people at the University of Washington. Across our campuses and medical centers, the energy at UW is truly boundless. Join us in celebrating the people who make our University one of the best institutions in the [...]

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Some children were understandably afraid when face masks became common this spring. Not skipping a beat, local child care providers simply reminded them that “super heroes wear masks.” Quite appropriately, the child care providers were wearing masks themselves. Walk past one of our UW Children’s Centers during outdoor time and teachers’ super powers will be [...]

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When, on April 29, Washington Governor Jay Inslee issued a proclamation recognizing May as Nurses Month in Washington, he added to a growing worldwide chorus of recognition and praise for nurses and the critical role they play in our healthcare system and in combating COVID-19. “Every nurse everywhere should take enormous pride in our profession. [...]

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Back in March, Dr. Seth Cohen, the medical director of Infection Prevention & Employee Health and clinic chief of Infectious Disease & Travel Medicine at UWMC Northwest, approached the UW School of Medicine with an idea: to create a project to highlight the phenomenal work done by the UW Medicine family in the face of [...]

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“Desperate times call for high fashion.” That’s the tagline atop @covidsocks, an Instagram page run by Katie Hammond, a nurse at Harborview Medical Center. The account features pictures of colorful, often zany socks worn by nursing staff across UW Medicine as well as photo submissions from medical professionals across the country who Hammond knows from [...]

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