A Meaningful Homecoming

When double alumna Lara Sobek ’08 ’13 returned to the Alverno campus this summer, it wasn’t for a reunion or even to visit her mother, a visual arts instructor here.

Nevertheless, it marked a homecoming for the public health nurse, who staffed a Milwaukee Health Department COVID-19 vaccine clinic on campus at the end of August.

The free clinic, one of several that Alverno has hosted, was open to members of the campus community as well as the general public.

“I was really excited to know that a mobile vaccination site was going to Alverno and happy that I was able to work at it. It’s like coming back home,” says Sobek, who has also served as a disease investigator earlier in the pandemic.

Sobek has focused her public health career in maternal child health, having done home health visits to assist under-served pregnant women, mothers and children access crucial medical and social services and to provide health education and screenings.

She chose public health because “it aims not only to help today’s generation become healthier but future generations as well. I’m so glad to help make a positive impact on the community as a nurse.”

This article appears in the winter 2022 issue of Alverno Magazine.