For many of you, the past week signaled the beginning of a new chapter in your life as well as the chance to live in a new community.
For me, last week signified the chance to live in a new community as well, except my new community isn’t located in Northeast Tennessee.
Rather, my new community is Nome, Ala. I’ll be living here for the next month, working with Norton Sound Health Corporation as a fourth-year medical student.
Over the past two weeks, I have had the opportunity to travel to other communities in Alaska, and as I’ve traveled, I’ve experienced and seen the unique characteristics of each community.
Though guidebooks and brochures can provide you with helpful information about a place, it is only through connecting with the local people and experiencing local events that you can discover the true characteristics of a town.
So that’s what I have done.
One of the ways you can learn about a community is by walking its streets. As I walked around the community of Seward, Ala., I could tell that the community valued its children.
Almost every plank surrounding the recently built playground had inscribed upon it the name of one of several local businesses.
The abundant sea life seen in the area was given special recognition through a large Sea Life Center, which displayed various marine animals and facts about the area.
In Homer, dubbed “The Halibut Capital of the World,” it is easy to see that the community values the fishing industry on which it depends.
Several fishing charter companies line the streets, and it’s not hard to find a good restaurant that sells freshly-caught halibut or salmon. I recommend Captain Patty’s.
And Nome? This afternoon, as I walked the streets, there was ample evidence to reveal Nome’s history of the Gold Rush.
A large gold mining pan was on display in the town square, and several tents were pitched along the beach, current prospectors still hoping to find their fortune in the sands of Nome’s beaches and ocean waters.
Over the next few weeks, I look forward to sharing with you my discoveries about the new community in which I am living and what it’s like to live and practice medicine in rural Alaska.
Meanwhile, I urge you to take a walk around your new community, whether it is the campus of ETSU or Johnson City.
Find out what the community members value and discover what role you will play in this community.

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