Motivational Monday Brightens Up Week

Monday is arguably the least popular day of the week. The weekend is gone, and stress for the upcoming week rears its head.

To bring a little brightness and cheer to the beginning of the work week, the Medical Partnership’s Gold Humanism Honor Society came up with Motivational Monday—a way to recognize members of the Partnership family.

Anyone can nominate a member of the Partnership for Motivational Monday, and those who are chosen are featured on the department’s social media with a photo and blurb of why they are being featured.

Messages are uplifting and inspirational—from thanking someone for being a good friend and study partner to recognizing a staff member for going above and beyond the call of duty.

The idea began from the GHHS Class of 2020 as a lighthearted way to thank their peers and to get a smile and good feeling during the stress of medical school.

“There are many challenging moments in medical school, including periods where we do not see our classmates on a regular basis. We hope that the Motivational Monday posts can help remind students that they are part of a vibrant community of inspiring individuals and that we are all on this journey together,” said GHHS member, James Cho.

The current group of GHHS students decided to continue Motivational Monday after the founding class graduated.

Sherayar Orakzai, an M4 and Social Media Chair for GHHS, currently gathers the nominations, chooses someone to be featured, and submits the blurb and photo for social media.

“The members of GHHS Class of 2021 have unanimously decided to continue Motivational Monday,” he said. “We believe that the Medical Partnership has a diverse and collaborative community of outstanding students and faculty. Motivational Monday is a small way to highlight and encourage this wonderful atmosphere at our campus and another way to thank our friends and faculty for all that they do for us.”

“Every week, students at the Medical Partnership are making important contributions to their community and their patients. These students deserve recognition and gratitude for all their hard work and their desire to positively impact the people around them,” said Cho.

Motivational Monday remains among the most popular social media posts on all accounts.

“The coronavirus pandemic has bought forth another degree of complexity to our schedules. Sadly, this has reduced the daily interaction between the students on our campus,” said Orakzai. “Fortunately, the Medical Partnership students continue to support, advise, and encourage each other! Therefore, Motivational Monday is more important now than ever for maintaining a strong sense of community at the Medical Partnership.”

GHHS has taken Motivational Monday even a step further. They are taking the nominees from each month and giving those people the opportunity to be considered for a monthly award—the John S. Francis Spotlight Award.

Created in honor of Campus Associate Dean for Student & Multicultural Affairs, Dr. John S. Francis, this award recognizes the kindness, altruism, and love for our school demonstrated by each awardee.

“The Gold Humanism Honor Society recognized that many students are not formally recognized for their accomplishments and contributions to the school. We created the John S. Spotlight Award to help fill that gap,” said Cho. “We hope to recognize students who promote a sense of community by enriching the experience of those around them. We plan to feature each winner on our newly created website, which we hope will also allow each class of the Gold Humanism Honor Society to record its various initiatives.”

Each awardee will be recognized on the Medical Partnership GHHS website.

If you would like to nominate someone to be highlighted for Motivational Monday, click here.