Since becoming a student ambassador last year, I have learned a lot about politics. Through meeting commissioners, mayors, and many other individuals in politics, I have learned a lot about government that I hadn’t known before. Although I learned a vast amount about politics through my time with the Broward League of Cities, I was surprised to uncover just how much I would learn about our community’s integral facilities.

At the League’s last general meeting, I was lucky enough to take a tour of the new addition to the Joe DiMaggio Children’s hospital. Having volunteered there numerous times with my school’s Key Club, I knew already what a lovely facility the hospital was for sick or injured children. I did not realize the lengths that the doctors and staff of Joe DiMaggio go to make their patients feel comfortable, in what would normally be a terrifying situation. On the tour, we saw almost every nook and cranny of the new building. I was astonished at the work and effort the staff put into this new addition.

The pirate-themed MRI machines made a lasting impression on me. A patient receiving a scan would “walk the plank” through the MRI room and lie down on a machine disguised as a pirate ship. Not to mention, throughout the scan a friendly purple hippo would be staring back at the child. The doctor that was giving us the tour said that the machines were such a hit that the siblings of the patients wanted to lie in the pirate ships, as well. Also, each floor has its own child-friendly theme to make children feel comfortable. You will not find any white walls in this new addition, but rather bursts of green, purple, orange and red on almost every wall.

Going on the tour really opened my eyes to the medical field. Although I see a future in politics, I wouldn’t mind working in hospital administration in the future, after visiting Joe DiMaggio hospital.  Overall, I hope to make more visits to Joe DiMaggio in the future and interact with the children there, and I hope others will do the same.

By: Kimberly Willoughby