Alumni Spotlight

Lydia Ahlum Hanson '07

Straight Talk

Lydia Ahlum Hanson '07

Lydia Ahlum Hanson '07 chose to study Human Development and Social Relations (HDSR) at Earlham because of its practical focus on the individual while emphasizing the larger societal contexts. In her senior year, Hanson's focus shifted to health when she decided to analyze current U.S. HIV prevention strategies for her problem analysis – the capstone experience of the HDSR department. Now, as the director and health educator for the Corner Health Center's Theatre Troupe in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Hanson has a chance to bring her health education concerns into practice by bringing sex, drugs and risk behaviors to the forefront of the classroom.

Hanson found the psychological aspect of the decision to engage in risk particularly fascinating, and explored these politics of risk in her senior project. This perspective became crucial in her current work with students: "For me, the individual level is the most exciting right now. I started thinking about it during the HIV project, wondering why people take care of themselves or do not, thinking about why people engage in risk. I realized that risk-taking can be cool and thrilling. It's important to focus on that risk, not just education. It's not enough to just tell people not to engage in risk. In other words, you can't just show students how to use condoms; you need to talk to them about why so many people still don't use them. It's a more complicated process that just teaching and expecting people to use a condom every time, for the rest of their lives."

The program is led by Hanson and a part-time theater instructor, and it addresses five different teen health issues: HIV/STIs, substance abuse, depression, dating violence and tobacco. Each classroom performance consists of three parts: a theater troupe performance, in-character questions (the cast remain in their roles and respond to questions from the audience) and a peer education discussion (the actors, now out of character, discuss the issues raised in the performance). Within one to two weeks of the performance there are follow-up reality and skill building workshops. In collaboration with a community agency, reality workshops include young people in recovery from substance abuse or living with HIV who share their personal stories with the audience. This helps break through teens' sense of invulnerability. In the skill-building workshop, students practice communication and resistance skills through educational activities and role-playing exercises.

An average week for Hanson consists of two to three days of full scheduling, where she contacts teachers and prepares a program for the classroom. The rest of the week, Hanson starts her day at 6 a.m., picking up junior and senior high school students (who are the actors in the troupe) from their homes in Ypsilanti. Each week brings a different school and a different set of challenges. The high-schoolers who have been trained in theater and health education perform for 7 th, 8 th, and 9 th graders — which are three of the most effective levels for health education — before they begin to engage in risk behavior, or right as they begin. "One of the things that I like about the job is that we go to a different school every week. I do have to do some number-crunching for grant information, so I'm doing frontline classroom work and bigger-picture work as well."

Hanson finds it particularly crucial to talk about HIV because it involves sex education. She believes this is where the most impact occurs: "When you go into the classroom, the students think you're going to be awkward because you're talking about sex, and we think that they're going to be awkward. It's so neat to see the actual change in their eyes from the beginning of the hour when they're just tolerating us, to an open and honest question and answer session when they begin to care and open up and realize that this is important to their lives. Particularly with young women, it's really great to talk about these things because I hope they will be ultimately taking fewer risks, using more protection and having better sex. The other great part is the personal conversations that go beyond the level of education."

Another important aspect of her work is opening lines of communication between generations: "There's rarely open dialogue between adults and youth about these topics. We do education and if it goes well, we can go beyond education and really talk about the underlying issues. Currently, health education in [many] schools doesn't go past 'Say no to drugs' and 'Wait till' you're married.' It's great to be working with a program that goes beyond that," she says.