Grace Allen '24 - Women's Volleyball
Returning to GoCrimson.com for an eighth season, "Around The Yard: Life As A Harvard Student-Athlete" explores life away from the playing fields for select Harvard student-athletes through Q&A style entries.

Can you give a brief introduction of yourself?
My name is Grace Allen! I'm a sophomore from Orlando, Fla. on the women's volleyball team. I'm concentrating in Human Evolutionary Biology with a secondary in Theatre, Dance, and Media. I hope to go to medical school and work as an OB-GYN! In my free time, I love reading, writing, and rollerblading!
 
What factors or process led you to becoming an EMT?
Being on an athletic team, I thrive in fast-paced and team oriented environments. I've always been very interested in medicine, but wanted to have a more hands-on experience than just shadowing a physician (still extremely valuable though)! I decided to enroll in an EMT training program as a way to test my dedication to the profession--mainly to see if I could handle blood, guts, and sick people on a day-to-day basis for the rest of my life. I fell in love with it from the minute I walked into the lab and had to take vitals for the first time. Not only did it affirm my interest in medicine, it gave me the chance to meet a lot of people from a lot of different backgrounds. I think being surrounded by college students at a prestigious school has set a strict definition of what an "acceptable" lifepath is. It was very liberating to see the different paths to happiness that my EMT classmates had chosen, and talking with them made me reflect on my own life choices and deeply consider alternative perspectives. I learned just as much from my conversations with my EMT classmates as I did from my instructors and exams.
 
What was the course like and what are some things that stood out to you in training?
My COVID-adjusted EMT course was about five months long, and featured lectures on human anatomy and physiology, lab days where we practiced interventions, and practical assessments in patient care using medical mannequins. The mannequins were extremely unnerving; they had a pulse, breathed, vomited, groaned, and bled just like a real patient. Running scenarios with them was definitely the coolest of the course. It was a very low-stakes way to practice interventions (the mannequin doesn't know that its wound was treated
poorly), and it helped me get used to some of the more uncomfortable (messy) sides of EMS. The course ends with each student being tested on two different patient scenarios and four different essential skills. Everyone in my class passed, and began work within a few months of graduation.
 
How are you planning to use your EMT training?
I'm looking forward to potentially joining CrimsonEMS in a non-traditional way! I'd be joining the crew as a transfer EMT, or someone who received their training outside the Harvard system. I believe most EMTs in their unit take the CrimsonEMS course in the spring and earn their certification together. I wish I'd had the chance to take the class with fellow Harvard students, but as I said earlier, I think my experience taking it in Orlando was invaluable to my development.
 
How does the CrimsonEMS position work? If accepted, would you be working alongside other Harvard students or full-time EMTs?
I'd be working alongside other Harvard students! CrimsonEMS isn't a traditional 40hr/week full-time
EMT schedule like I did this summer, so it'd fit with my class and volleyball schedules. There's a monthly number of hours to maintain to remain part of the club, about 5 hours, so members have a lot of flexibility. CrimsonEMS services a lot of student organizations, club sporting events, alumni events, and plenty of other gatherings across campus.
 
Would this role relate to your concentration or future career goals?
It definitely relates to my concentration and career path! I spent so much time in the emergency
department working as an EMT, and it has made me consider a career in medicine even more seriously. My partner and I were the primary caregivers to patients on-scene and in transport, and we worked closely with nurses and physicians in transferring care to the hospital.
 
What's something you're looking forward to being back on campus and securing a role in CrimsonEMS?
I'm very excited to meet other student EMTs! I loved my coworkers and classmates this past year,
so getting to meet other students who understand how fantastic EMS is, is something I cannot wait for. Always looking for friends outside of athletics to make my Harvard experience as full as it can be!