My Grant Writing Why | Kirstin Palovick
When I was in high school, I took a Political Science course and immediately decided I wanted to work in politics. As an 18-year-old, I did not totally understand what that meant and would involve, but I took that energy into undergrad here at SLU and received my BA in Political Science and Communication and became a political organizer and community educator in Missouri, first for an LGBTQ advocacy organization and then for a reproductive rights advocacy group.
As part of these jobs, I educated community members and provided them with the tools to make change on both local and statewide policies. While the work was incredibly rewarding, working closely with individuals to pass proactive policies and defeat harmful bills, it also became draining working in a largely conservative state on these issues. I became increasingly frustrated and exhausted with the introduction of dangerous legislation that would further discriminate against the LGBTQ community and weaken access to reproductive health services in the state. Because of this, while working as an organizer, I decided to go back and receive my MA in Political Science with a focus in Public Policy (at SLU). My desire was to pivot my career to policy analysis; I wanted to work on research that would support policies that would positively impact Missourians and defeat bills that were incredibly damaging.
And I finished my MA — And then I ended up going in an entirely other direction. A few months after finishing my program, I shifted into clinical work, first as a Clinical Research Assistant at Planned Parenthood and then as a Research Patient Coordinator at the Contraceptive Choice Center (C3) at Washington University.
Did I feel out of my element? Absolutely. But it ended up being the right switch in my career path and led me to a job I fell in love with. I got to continue supporting the communities that I worked in as an organizer, just in a health care setting now. For example, at C3, I got to:
· Coordinate various reproductive health research studies and clinical trials;
· Manage the reporting, data, and evaluation for our health center;
· And work directly with patients to provide them with contraception education.
While in this position, though, I did not learn, but rather, confirmed something about myself. Though I loved managing the studies I worked on and working directly with patients and clinic staff, it was through these experiences and interactions that I started to develop some of my own research ideas that I wanted to explore further. For years, I had juggled with the idea of receiving a PhD, and these realizations in my job solidified that decision for me. Now, here I am, at SLU again, researching reproductive and sexual health.
So, this leads to the question — why grant writing? On the first day of class, I submitted a dream statement that said the following:
My dreams are to increase reproductive health access and improve reproductive health services so that all individuals can go to an Ob/Gyn and family planning provider, receive the services they need, and feel empowered in making their reproductive life decisions.
And these “lofty” goals will be accomplished through grant writing. A number of talented, committed reproductive and sexual health researchers have made significant advancements in this field. It was just roughly 15 years ago when the CHOICE Project at Washington University in St. Louis made substantial strides in what we know about contraceptive access and decision-making. I want to leave this course with the skills to continue being a part of and contributing to this field.
