Provider Pulse Ep. 11: Refugee Roots, Creative Wings - JJ Bola’s Story of Art, Advocacy, and Social Work

In this episode of Provider Pulse, we continue our mission to elevate diverse voices from across healthcare, exploring the unique paths people take to their current roles.

Our guest is JJ Bola—writer, poet, mental health social worker, and UNHCR Ambassador. Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and raised in London, JJ Bola shares his family’s journey as refugees, the uncertainty of his early career steps, and how he ultimately built a life that weaves together creativity, advocacy, and his work in mental health.

He reflects on the power of representation in professional fields and the many identities and roles one person can hold.

This conversation was recorded in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where JJ Bola was a keynote speaker at the 2025 Conference of the Society of Refugee Healthcare Providers.

You can learn more about JJ and his work at www.jjbola.com. His publications include the novels No Place to Call Home (2017) and The Selfless Act of Breathing (2021); the nonfiction book Mask Off: Masculinity Redefined (2019); and three poetry collections—Elevate (2012), Daughter of the Sun (2014), and WORD (2015).

Guide to terms and acronyms:

• UNHCR: United Nations High Commission for Refugees—the UN agency that protects refugees and displaced people worldwide.

Visit EthnoMed.org for additional resources. Follow us on YouTube and Instagram @EthnoMedUW

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:46 Intro Quote from JJ Bola
• 1:57 Overview of Career Journey, Searching for Something More
• 3:06 Family History, Leaving the DRC to London
• 4:12 Teenage Years, Psychology Degree, Multiple Jobs
• 6:29 Living Library Project, Importance of Telling His Story
• 7:14 Starting to Write Professionally
• 8:50 Sense of Wandering, Multiple Jobs, Unclear Path
• 10:34 Persistence in Following His Passion
• 12:08 Introduction to Career as a Mental Health Social Worker
• 15:41 Childhood and Early Schooling
• 17:40 Basketball Player as Early Career Aspiration, Importance of Representation
• 19:21 Family Expectations
• 20:19 Balancing Identities as Social Worker and a Writer
• 21:39 You Don't Have to be Just One Thing
• 25:03 Insights from the Refugee Identity into Work as a Social Worker
• 26:36 More Information About His Work
• 27:10 Outro
• 28:02 Preview of Next Episode, Chelsea Ng
• 29:14 Contact Information

Transcript

 [00:00:00] 

Duncan: Welcome to the EthnoMed Podcast, a community voice in the clinic. My name is Dr. Duncan Reid, a physician in the International Medicine Clinic at Harborview Medical Center and medical director of EthnoMed, a web resource for providers and patients with information for cross-cultural care. Today we are continuing our interview series called Provider Pulse, where we elevate diverse voices from across healthcare fields to learn the paths people took to their current roles in healthcare, and how their cross-cultural experiences have helped them provide more informed care to a diverse patient population.

Whether you are an undergraduate student considering a career in healthcare, a practicing health professional, or a member of the community. These conversations are for you.

JJ Bola: The kind of expectation then was that you study psychology and then you go on to do your doctorate, become a psychologist, et cetera. But, I knew that, for me, that that didn't necessarily feel right. I knew that there was more, I was passionate [00:01:00] about psychology and about mental health, I knew that there was a different path that I felt like I had to take, but I just, I didn't know what,

It's not going to come to you easy. Like whatever you're passionate about, whatever you wanna do in the world, everything takes so much challenge, and so many obstacles to overcome. And a part of it is a test for you to be sure that this is what you're really passionate about

Duncan: In today's episode, we speak with JJ Bola, writer, poet, mental health social worker, and U-N-H-C-R Ambassador, born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and raised in London. From early dreams of basketball to finding his voice in literature and advocacy, JJ Bola offers an honest look at navigating family expectations, balancing creativity with a career in mental health, and the power of representation for refugee and immigrant communities. This conversation will inspire you to see your own path as a work in progress. 

JJ Bola: So, my name's JJ Bola. I'm a writer, [00:02:00] poet, a mental health social worker, and U-N-H-C-R Ambassador. My family were refugees from Congo DRC to London, UK where I grew up. I guess my journey has been quite varied in both experiences, challenges both within education and outside of it as well.

So I grew up in London, went to secondary school in London, also university, and I studied psychology in university and I think that was partially because there was a lot of expectation to, pursue further education. But I was also really passionate about mental health, although I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do in terms of mental health.

 The kind of expectation then was that you study psychology and then you go on to do your doctorate, become a psychologist, et cetera. But, I knew that, for me, that that didn't necessarily feel right. I knew that there was more, I was passionate about psychology and about mental health, [00:03:00]  I knew that there was a different path that I felt like I had to take, but I just, I didn't know what,

So in terms of my family, we left Congo in 1992.

Congo in 1992 was under the dictatorship of President Mobutu. And through that period, particularly throughout the eighties, late eighties and early nineties. there was a lot of civil uprisings, would eventually lead to the first Congo war in 1996. and so for us, particularly as my family had involvement in politics, it was becoming increasingly unsafe.

And so my parents were forced to make the decision of, fleeing. And for me, I think I was about six years old at the time, arriving in the uk, had no idea what was going on, as you can imagine. Um, there wasn't really a conversation and not until kind of, perhaps many years later as well.

So we just came to a new place. We went to school Told that our education is important and that we are different. I, that was one thing [00:04:00] that I think my parents did emphasize was that we are different, our experience is different, you know, so we didn't know what that difference was necessarily. But we knew that there was an experience that we'd had that not many other people had.

 And as we kind of moved through to our teenage years, then that's when we began to learn more about our refugee status, about our history in terms of Congo and Congolese politics, but also what's possible in the future. And I think for me, when I was passionate about studying psychology, I think a part of it was also wanting to understand myself better, understand the people around me, the experiences they were having as well. And that's where I started to learn about trauma particularly, you know, back then it wasn't a conversation or narrative that was, common. Not a lot of people spoke about it, but that did help me to understand my experiences more. And when it came to graduating university, I knew that I wanted, I mean, it was around that time that I was also developing my passion for writing, and for [00:05:00] reading and for books generally. I mean, I've always been passionate about reading, but specifically writing. And I started off writing poetry. I knew that there was something more that I wanted to do beyond the conventional career route.

 So I did lots of jobs. Like I did lots of jobs. Jobs that, I would say like maybe a graduate probably wouldn't be doing typically. But I think my first job out of university was research. Right. I remember working for, part of a research department in another university, and honestly, I just found that so boring.

Like I personally just found that boring. Like, I was like, I can't believe I've studied three years and then this is the culmination of my studies, and all I'm doing is basically just quantifying data. You know, and it was interesting enough that I, you know, you got paid, but I was just like, surely this can't be it, you know?

Um, I didn't feel like I was making an impact. I didn't feel like I was learning or contributing, so I. I was driven to find out more. And at that time, I guess when you are [00:06:00] 21, 22, you can be a bit more impulsive because you don't have as much responsibilities and so forth. So I did quit that job after about six months and my parents were like, what are you doing?

You've got a good job. And I was like, trust me, I'll figure it out. Very glad that things worked out afterwards. But um, yeah, and I did lots of. Many, many other jobs from, I think after that job I went straight into like working in a warehouse. I met some really interesting people there and I volunteered with different organizations, with the European Council.

 I did some projects projects back then called, I can remember correctly, called the Living Library, with the European Youth Council in Strasbourg. And, it was essentially where, uh, a lot of the. Politicians and the workers there would speak to you and you would be kind of like a living book and they would speak to you about your experiences as a refugee.

And so it was like one-to-one engagement and stuff. And that was really interesting. And after doing that I was like, wow, it's really important. And that's why I started to discover more about kind of [00:07:00] the importance of telling my story or my family story or like a refugee community story. And then from then on I started writing poetry.

I put it on a blog, and just started sharing more and more and more. And it just unraveled.

Duncan: And when did your writing start? When did you start really writing?

JJ Bola: I feel like it's, I would say writing professionally. So I did an MA in creative writing in 2016. I think that really took it to another level where I really learned the craft and the professionalism of writing. Prior to that I was always writing, but it was very much the kind of writing that was fleeting.

You know, I'm an artist. I write when I feel like it, versus you have a deadline, like get to work type of thing and show up at your desk every day. And so I think around that period, was when I, I had to shift from being, I guess, uh, an amateur writer to a professional writer from someone who just did this as a hobby to someone who [00:08:00] did this professionally.

And when my first novel was published in 2017, writing that, you know, book was a real challenge because you have to show up every single day. And you know, this whole idea about do what you're passionate about and you never have to work a day in your life where I like, I didn't really feel that if you do what you're passionate about, you probably have to work harder than ever before.

And for me, you know, I really felt that with writing, but I felt like I was so much more out of it. You know, that I was really able to connect with people and, share and learn as well. So that's what kept me going. Really.

Duncan: I think this is really insightful for a lot of the undergraduates that we're talking to.

JJ Bola: Mm-hmm.

Duncan: I think a lot of our undergraduates can feel similar to you, where searching for something, they're quite sure what they're looking for. How did it feel going through those different jobs? Did you feel like you were on a path to something or did feel, do you feel like you were wandering.

JJ Bola: At the time I did not feel like I was on a [00:09:00] path to something. You know, I felt behind at the time, particularly as a lot of my friends were getting kind of the career jobs and they were going straight into their fields and they seemed quite settled and they knew what they were doing. And then there I was kind of changing jobs every six months or every year.

 And it felt like maybe like I was behind or I wasn't taking life as seriously, or I'd missed the opportunities that I had had or hadn't made the most of them. But as time went on, I did start to feel more grounded in my belief that there's a reason why I've been taken in this direction and then what I try to do. 'Cause essentially all that, I guess the insecurity of feeling behind came from judgment of other people. So I'd often get asked, oh, so you graduate university, like, what are you doing now? And you try to explain what you're doing when you're not really sure, and that's really hard to do. So sometimes I wouldn't say, sometimes I wouldn't know what to say or change the conversation, et cetera, but I know that like that [00:10:00] fleeting feeling that I felt was coming from other people's judgment. And so when I was able to put that aside, that's when I really began to feel as if this writing that I was doing was leading towards something. And looking back, I can really see that each step of the way it was me in the right direction.

I just had to keep moving forward. And so you might not know if you knew what your path looked like it would be too easy a path. It wouldn't be as meaningful, you know? So you have to go through these challenges to make sure that it's really the path that you're passionate about because you can't do this.

It's not going to come to you easy. Like whatever you're passionate about, whatever you wanna do in the world, everything takes so much challenge, and so many obstacles to overcome. And a part of it is a test for you to be sure that this is what you're really passionate about and so having the privilege of being able to, be invited to a conference such as this.

Some of my friends see what I'm doing now, and it's like, actually I was having a conversation [00:11:00] with a friend yesterday and it's like, oh bro, your life is so cool. Like, I wish I could do what you're doing. And I was like, well, 10 years ago, like when I was writing poems and there was some places that I went to, I got invited to, and there'll be like two people in the room and I'm doing poetry to two people.

No one turned up like I used to put an events and like no one would turn up and stuff. Um, never even imagined being invited outside of the country, let alone having any platform, anywhere that anyone would listen to. And then I had all these wild ideas about, oh, you know, I'm a refugee and talking about refugee ideas or mental health or masculinity and these subjects that just people weren't speaking about.

 I feel like you are on a journey and you're discovering yourself along the way. Like none of it made sense, but now looking back, I, I can see how I arrived to be where I am.

Duncan: And thank you for saying that because I think that's the messaging that doesn't get to a lot of young people, I think. A lot of professionals in these careers say, oh, look at me now, and it was a foregone conclusion and everything happened [00:12:00] as it was happening for a reason. And I think people don't talk about like, oh, it didn't quite make sense.

JJ Bola: Yeah, yeah, yeah. For a long time.

Duncan: You're a health social worker. Can you talk about how you got into that?

JJ Bola: Yeah. So, um, I studied psychology, initially and the mental health, social work particularly, I. I did that as, a postgraduate degree and I, so I've always been passionate about psychology, but I just didn't know what I wanted to do necessarily. I know I didn't wanna be a psychologist. I didn't wanna do anything too clinical.

I wanted to work with people. And so, actually how it really came about was, my friend has an office in London. Um, where there's a coworking space and there was a social worker who, we kind of bumped into and they said they were working with a family and we started having a conversation with them. And I was asking, her some questions then she said to me, oh, you asked some really interesting questions. You know, I like the way you think you should about becoming a social worker. I thought to myself a social worker, me, because in the UK particularly, there's such negative perceptions about [00:13:00] social workers and um, largely 'cause the stigma is that, oh, social workers, especially children and families are there to like, take away children and that sort of do.

And I just thought, wait, what would mean become a social worker? Like, it's never something I'd considered before. And they said, yeah, to look into it, you know, you seem like someone who's really passionate about people, you wanna make positive impact in people's lives, et cetera, et cetera. So when I looked into it, I was like, oh, I, yeah, this sounds really good.

I think I'd, I'd like to do this. And then eventually I found a program. I did the two year course and then, yeah. So I've been, a mental health social worker for about five years now, going into six years. I think similarly it's just, you know, I, I can see now looking back how, yeah, okay, this makes sense. You know, how I arrived to be here, but it wasn't a given. I had to almost like search for these opportunities and search for myself, search for things that make sense. And that I feel passionate about and I'm able to pursue. And still to this day, I remember when I did the interview for the program, I remember leaving that [00:14:00] program and thinking, yeah, I didn't pass the interview.

Like, I was like, okay, I'm gonna reapply next year. I just have to figure out what I'm gonna do for the next 12 months until, next year. And somehow I got in because they could see my passion, you know, they can see what, I wanted to do. Yeah.

Duncan: Can you tell me what that job looks like 

JJ Bola: it's in London. it's essentially a lot of community outreach work.

Now, the way that it works in London, or UK generally. So within mental health, social work, and particularly mental health, you either work from a clinical or health, aspect or social or therapeutic aspect. So that's more my role is more specifically within the social aspect.

And a lot of it is community outreach. It's legislative and statutory work. It is signposting and helping people make sure that they're aware of their rights and they can access certain services in the community. It's also one-to-one engagement and support. So a lot of people are isolated and, you know, increasingly isolated, [00:15:00] particularly in London.

So we also find a way to engage people so that they can actually have kind of some connection within community. Sometimes for some people, we are the only people that they see. And so it is varied, but it is very people oriented and it's, oriented around mental health, which are all the things that I'm passionate about.

And I think it's it's one of the few jobs where I felt I've been able to bring my whole self into it, you know? And that's a creative element, but also my passion about mental health, like everything that I believe in is, has been able to be brought together in this.

Duncan: So the serendipity of this friend mentioning it

JJ Bola: Yeah,

Duncan: and then bring it to your and then you're like, oh my goodness.

JJ Bola: yeah, yeah, yeah,

Duncan: Could I go back a little bit briefly through your childhood?

 were you a good student growing up, like in elementary school, middle school? Like how was that?

JJ Bola: I would say I was a good student in primary school. may be elementary. I think that's Yeah. Ish.

Duncan: yeah.

JJ Bola: ,

JJ Bola: And then when I got to secondary school, I. I [00:16:00] initially wasn't as good a student as I could have been ' because I was easily distracted. And the school that I went to probably didn't have, I guess the highest expectations of, of their students.

'cause you know, sometimes get put in a place and you're not really educated, you're not really schooled. You're just almost like you are babysat. If you are, you are in a room and the teacher doesn't really get to teach. But I think the more that I started, especially around the ages of 13, 14, the more that I started to find kind of my sense of self, that's when I became a better student.

When I wanted to discover more about who I am and what I'm learning in relation to myself and in relation to the world, that's when I became a better student. For example, when, whatever, you know, reading Animal Farm by, uh, George Orwell, I was able to relate that to politics of colonialism and neocolonialism in Congo, like politics of dictatorship and so forth.

And it wasn't just, a piece [00:17:00] of literature that we was learning to pass the course. You know, it was something that I could apply real world meaning to. And so when I was able to look at the education I was receiving in a real world context, that's when education really became powerful to me. And then the rest is just history.

Like I think education is transformative completely. And I think I've been able to value education both within the institution but also outside of it because I feel like you don't realize the opportunity that you're having, you know, that so many people around the world would beg to have, you know, would really give everything to have.

And then, so in using that, you also think, okay, if you want to empower people, how can you use this platform to empower people?

Duncan: When you were growing up, what did you think you were gonna do for work?

JJ Bola: Well, when I was growing up, I thought I was gonna be a professional basketball player. And I think about that and I don't think it was because I was particularly good at basketball or because I was particularly passionate about basketball. Right. I think especially for a young black inner city boy. I think that's [00:18:00] where, especially back then, it's different now because you have social media and so forth, so many different examples.

But back then, you know, representation is important and so I think that was one of the few, if not only spaces where I saw black men who were shown like dignity and respect and seen as professionals, right? So I was like, okay, so this is the role that they're doing. I want to kind of be like that. I saw myself as that.

I didn't see any poets, I didn't see any writers who are kind of from my background or you know, refugee young and black, et cetera, in the city. So I didn't know that that was even possible, you know? So yeah, I thought about basketball a long time. And also there's a, there's a wealth element, isn't it?

You come from an impoverished family, you want to transform your family's life. So you think about, okay, what's the thing that can make the most money as soon as possible? But, my passion for basketball didn't last nowhere near as long as my passion for literature. but 

Yeah, I think I, I, I just kind of my sense of like what I would become really started to shift, you know? And then the more that I saw, like the creative [00:19:00] part of me coming out. 'Because that took a long time to accept as well that I am an artist, I am a poet because it's not something that you know, anyone ever called me a poet in school or I never, I never won poetry competitions or in English class English teacher never really pointed me out to anything. So it felt like a strange shift into becoming who I would, I would later become

Duncan: How about family pressures? How many siblings did you have, first of all,

so four siblings. Yeah.

I'm the, the second youngest.

.

 Was some of the pressure taken off at least

JJ Bola: a little bit. But I think my parents had expectations of all of us. So I still felt the pressure regardless. 

Duncan: Did you know what the pressure was towards it? Was it just excelling or was it excelling towards something?

JJ Bola: It was excelling, but also kind of excelling towards something, not necessarily something that they were saying, you have to do this, but excelling towards something that was respectable and that made sense. You know? And back then we didn't know any writers or poets like we, where would you find a poet back then?

[00:20:00] You know? So. Yeah. It just, it was just something that unraveled like, uh

Duncan: Thank you so much for saying that 'cause I think the same dynamic repeats itself. I think even today in the UK Yeah, or in the US is that idea of representation who's being represented in what field.

JJ Bola: yeah, yeah. Completely.

Duncan: I guess my question now is how do you balance these identities as a medical social worker and as a poet?

Or are those complimentary identities or how does that work together?

JJ Bola: I think now I've reached the stage in my respective careers where they can work together, you know? I mean, it's really interesting because I used to hide my creative work from my professional work. But now I've really been able to merge them together. And so I'm able to bring my creative work into my professional role and my professional role into my creative role as well.

So the only way that it may look a bit different is how I manage my time, [00:21:00] because the creative stuff I do independently, whereas my mental health, social work, I do that within an organization but I'm really able to like, I feel content 'cause I'm really able to bring my full self. Like I don't feel like I have to hide or, or do anything like that.

Duncan: I think that's incredible message because there's so many young people that are feeling pressure like you are to just get something respectable. Maybe they're thinking about healthcare, but they have a creative side to

JJ Bola: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Duncan: And then someone like you is able to balance these two that are actually complimentary.

Yeah, so I think that's a huge message to anyone who's thinking about a career in health, who also has all of these creative ideas behind

JJ Bola: Yeah, yeah. You don't, you know, I wish someone had told me this sooner, but you, you don't have to be just one thing. You know, we get told that, okay, if you're this, you are that. You, you, that's it. Like choose the one path at 18 years old. Choose the one path that you're going do for the rest of your life.

Like, so for the next like 50 years, this is what you're gonna do. And that's overwhelming, you know, you [00:22:00] can't expect an 18-year-old to make that decision. But yeah, I wish someone had told me a long time ago that you can be more than one thing. Because for me, when I discovered that, I was like, wow, you can, and I felt really comfortable.

And even now there's still, I guess like an evolution of who I am and who I'm becoming and what I'm passionate about. So of all the things that I've done and I'm doing, and there's still other things that I'm adding to that as well.

Duncan: Which I think is a whole nother thing that is a lost, when we're talking to younger people, is a whole idea of an evolution of a career or evolution of a person like, oh, you become a doctor, you become a social worker. That's it.

JJ Bola: Yeah, yeah,

Duncan: And what you're saying is that, oh, actually that's just the beginning.

JJ Bola: Yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely. And even if it is something that's within the same field, there's still so many different things that you can do. Different ways of practicing. There's different ways in which you can be autonomous and independent as well.

And, and network and meet people and other people will give you ideas and, and give you kind of hope. Also, which I found, uh, I guess probably the most [00:23:00] impactful for me on my journey is the, sometimes people will believe in you more than you believe in yourself, you know, and believe that you can do something.

And, uh, that gives you like a lot of courage to keep going along the way, even if things don't look like they're making sense. You know, especially from a writer poetry perspective, this was a time where like, you know, I wasn't making any money or anything like that. And you know, nowadays there's a lot of pressure on young people to make money immediately, right?

Like the thing that you do has to make you money. But I always think. It's like for me, regardless of whether or not I'd made any money out of writing or poetry or any of the speaking or anything that I've done, I would still be writing, I would still be telling these stories. They would still exist. The difference is is whether or not they would exist publicly and people would know about it.

But these are stories that would've always been written, like I would've always been passionate about it. And so I think it is really important to remember to follow the passion [00:24:00] rather than just like what can make you the most money immediately. Now, obviously, you know, realistically we live in a world where you have to make money to survive, but we can't let that be the be all, and the end all of of our efforts, like our lives means so much more than just, money.

And I know that, you know, from my previous experiences as well, you can have, as you know, well paying job as possible. Right. But if you are not fulfilled in that, it won't last. Like I've seen it as happened to myself. I've seen it happen to tons and tons of people. So yeah, especially if like young people are listening and, and want a bit of advice like, don't compare yourself.

Don't worry about the friend that's already got the nice car or the good job or this or that, or have already moved out and live independently. Just take your own time. Build your own path, follow your own journey, and you will eventually get there. And then you'll get to a time, a, point in your life where it makes sense, you know, everything that you've sacrificed like will make sense.

So, yeah.

Duncan: And then one other question that [00:25:00] I had was just this idea of representation.

JJ Bola: Mm-hmm.

Duncan: A lot of the undergraduates I work with are from, maybe their parents were refugees, they were refugees or immigrants of some kind. And I was just wondering, having that refugee identity, how does that change the way you're interacting with maybe some of the people through your social work

JJ Bola: Mm.

Duncan: role or through your writing career?

JJ Bola: Yeah. I guess for me it makes, being a refugee makes it easier for me to interact with people and to engage with people because I know that, especially within mental health, Being a refugee, you know what it's like to be isolated, to be displaced, to be considered other. And so for a lot of people who are experiencing mental health difficulties, that's also how they feel.

So I think it's allowed me to, be able to work with people from a nonjudgmental place of compassion as well. And honestly, like [00:26:00] people who I work with. They can tell the difference between someone who has been nonjudgmental and showing empathy towards them versus someone who is just there for their career or is already thinking about the next patient or is already thinking about going home.

You know, and I think in these roles, particularly, like you have to be fully committed. You know, because you are, you are a person working with people and people we can read each other well. And so that, that difference, that nuance there, like that makes all the difference in the world to someone. And so that's been something that's always been super important to me.

I.

Duncan: How can we learn more about your work and your books?

JJ Bola: well, I have a website, jj bola.com. I'm on various forms of social media. JJ_ bola. Um, yeah, and I'm just, I guess I'm just around somewhere in it. So for anyone who's interested, they'll find me. I always say like, when it comes to art and literature, the work finds you at the right time when you, when you need to find [00:27:00] it.

So I'm sure whoever is interested in my work and so forth will find it when they need to. Yeah.

Duncan: Thank you so much for your time. It's really been a pleasure. Thank you.

JJ Bola: Appreciate me too.

Duncan: We hope you enjoyed today's episode of Provider Pulse, a heartfelt thank you to JJ Bola for his generosity in sharing his story. From his family's journey as refugees to navigating the uncertainty of early career paths to building a life that blends creativity, advocacy, and work as a mental health social worker.

His reflections on representation, resilience, and embracing an evolving identity, remind us that our paths are rarely linear.

You can find more about his work and events at his website, jj bola.com. That's J-J-B-O-L a.com. This interview was done in Halifax Nova Scotia during the 2025 Conference of the Society of Refugee Healthcare Providers. JJ Bola was one of the invited keynote speakers and [00:28:00] graciously agreed to be interviewed for the EthnoMed podcast.

Here's a preview of next week's episode featuring Chelsea Ng, an international student from Malaysia, who completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Washington and is starting her first year of medical school at the University of Washington School of Medicine. 

Chelsea: I remember the first time I really felt homesick was when I was sitting in the student cafe, and I was eating this really greasy, pepperoni pizza and I was just like, this is so sad. Like, I am just so sad. I'm so sad to be here. I'm sad to be eating this. This thing that I don't even like and it's so greasy and I can feel it coating my insides and I just miss home.

I miss home cooked food. I miss my parents. I remember that was like the first time I really felt like, wow. Like why am I here and do I even belong here? Like, am I gonna have to do this for the rest of my life?

And I remember doing my first biology class in freshman year designed to be a weed out and I got like a 67 and I'd never gotten so low on a test before. I remember like [00:29:00] sobbing over this. I'm like, I'm never gonna be a doctor.  I remember sitting there like crying.

I'm not a crier too, so I was like, this is very out of character. But I felt very overwhelmed by like, oh, like all this expectation and pressure and like, am I gonna be able to do this? 

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