Graduate Profile: Tracie Palmer, MDiv '24

How I've Changed  

I've shed so many protective layers, and I've learned how to stay soft and open to relationship even in those moments of uncertainty and exposure.  

Memorable Moment 

One of my favorite moments at HDS was sharing our "death boxes" at the end of "Compassionate Care of the Dying: Buddhist Training and Techniques" co-taught by professors Cheryl Giles and Chris Berlin. We created a beautiful container all semester which allowed for intimate sharing about our end-of-life wishes. It was an honor to witness.  

Another was the final class for "Book of Baldwin" taught by Tracey Hucks. Each of us shared what journeying with James Baldwin meant to us, and the depth of the responses was a testament to how profoundly we'd been individually and collectively transformed by Baldwin and his works.   

Favorite Class or Professor 

I'm so grateful to have taken multiple classes with Cheryl Giles and Chris Berlin. They create meaningful class environments where students learn how to build our capacity for spiritual caregiving, including the self-compassion that work requires.  

I also loved "Buddhist Life in Community: Monastic and Tantric Sangha in South Asian Scripture" taught by Professor Janet Gyatso. We did a close reading of the Theravada Vinaya, and the engagement with the material and one another was deep and rigorous and thoughtful. 

Message of Thanks  

I want to thank my wife Cynthia, my teachers, my sangha—everyone who has held and supported me on this journey.   

I've been continually inspired by my fellow HDS students and their willingness to show up as who they are in all its dynamism.   

What I Hope to Be Remembered By 

That when there was an opportunity to be vulnerable and brave, I took it, and when someone else did the same, I leaned in and listened deeply. 

Future Plans 

In September, I start my chaplaincy residency at Jefferson Einstein in Philadelphia!