...Completely blowing my Path test out of its disease-infested waters, I bequeath to my readers the honor of another stream of consciousness post.
The other day before lunch as I was ascending the stairs to take my lunch at our habitual spot, a picnic table outside Stanton Gerber, out of the corner of my eye I saw a man running down the hall, dressed in surgery-colored scrubs and wearing a white coat. It was none other than our own Dr.E, the renowned MD/JD who amused us with his lectures in Physical Exam last year by showing us pictures of his favorite vacation spots and telling us, "Now when you make just as much money as I do, you can go have some fun at these places too." A smirk briefly crossed my face as I assessed the somewhat humorous situation though I suppose we all have those times in our lives when we have to shirk our professional appearances and just let life happen.
Speaking of lunch, you never know what turn the conversation may take. For example, the other day myself and the other three girls (we'll call them L, C, and J for simplicity's sake) were admiring the beautiful day and talking among ourselves and trying to get J to give us some of her heavenly Snickers cake. Somewhere between this admiration and attempt to beg, we all almost simultaneously came to the conclusion that we must have been absolutely batty all of those years when all we could think about was our long-held goals of being physicians. It's actually a ridiculous career if you think about it. We pay tens of thousands of dollars for years to study like mad, lose sleep, read our friends' blogs (ok so maybe we don't read our friends' blogs), dig in dead bodies, and prepare stains of pathologic agents. It's a profession that has an incredibly poor track record; I mean if you had a batting average for each physician in terms of successful diagnoses and cures, they'd immediately throw us all into Little League, maybe even T-ball league, or maybe they just wouldn't even let us play because our record is so awful.
But never fear, your crazy med school nerd's friend, L, came up with a wonderful solution. Somehow, something I said was misheard and "I have to go to an appointment this afternoon," turned into "I have to go to McDonalds soon." This statement in itself if quite amusing since the author of this blog abhors the Golden Arches and would rather go on a forty day diet of raw tuna fish than set foot in such a hovel. After a few more convolutions of our random banter, L decided that I should quit medical school and become Ronald McDonald's female counterpart. I know the publicity and money from commercials would be an incentive, but I had to explain to L that I just don't think that's my type of employment. I mean I know the red poofy hair and big red shoes are quite attractive but c'mon. I'd always have to have a smile plastered on my face. There has to be something wrong with a girl who constantly smiles.
After seeing that L's business venture was plummeting to the abyss of failure it was decided that we are all going to pursue more normal careers like teaching Spanish, being a missionary, or the old standby-a street musician. Then I could have a normal life, right?
In the meantime, this med school nerd has a lot to learn about neurology and microbiology in the next week.
Doesn't it give you great comfort that your future physicians engage in such meaningful discussions? The life of a medical student-you never know what to expect!
9.28.2005
9.19.2005
Anywhere with Jesus
Aren't they adorable?
Dimas Miguel and Georgina Lopez
Managua, Nicaragua, September 2005
my "roommates" in Honduras in 2003 and
the children of my "second set of parents"
Do to increasing pressure from faithful blog readers, the management of this blog has decided to uphold their commitment to providing an update regarding the recent medical missions seminar. The management apologizes for any incovenience experienced over the past two weeks and attributes all delays in blogging to trying to cram everything there is to know about heart, lung, and kidney pathology into the small confines of a cranium before 8am Monday.
That being stated, on to the missions report...
Wow. Even though I haven't been able to go on a college retreat since...well...I was in college, this was definitely a retreat for me. It was so refreshing and encouraging to realize that there are still people out there who know what true Christianity is all about- that it's not about being part of an intellectually elite, somewhat PC, somewhat humanitarian group. Rather it's about being so in awe of what a wonderful Savior we have that one dedicates their whole life to bringing such good news to all those they come in contact with- the good news of a Savior who longs to gather us under his sheltering wings like a hen with her chicks. Or perhaps a Savior who can take away the detrimental thirst for alcohol and replace it with something that will never leave one thirsty. Or of a Savior who instead of waving a wand and saying the magic word, tirelessly attends to all those who need healing.
I had the opportunity to eat lunch with a couple who wouldn't limit God and his ability to help the country of Malawi, to watch an optometrist use his talents to allow others the opportunity to open their eyes to the Bible, to watch the 4 day journey up a river to bring hope to the forgotten of Nicaragua, and to hear story upon story of how people of all backgrounds and talents are thinking big ie not limiting God and thinking small ie not forgetting the individual person and purpose to bring the message of God's love to every corner of the world.
It has definitely caused this week to be one of conviction, convicted in God's calling for me, convicted in knowing more about this wonderful Savior who cared enough to seek out a little Michele some years ago, convicted to pray for all those he is still seeking, and convicted in the desire to prepare myself and seek out God's future plan for me. I only hope that I will allow him to use me in such a way as he has used those I saw this weekend.
Below are some links to some of the wonderful ways God is working throughout the world. Take a few minutes and check them out, pray for the work, and let missions change your life and the lives of others!
That being stated, on to the missions report...
Wow. Even though I haven't been able to go on a college retreat since...well...I was in college, this was definitely a retreat for me. It was so refreshing and encouraging to realize that there are still people out there who know what true Christianity is all about- that it's not about being part of an intellectually elite, somewhat PC, somewhat humanitarian group. Rather it's about being so in awe of what a wonderful Savior we have that one dedicates their whole life to bringing such good news to all those they come in contact with- the good news of a Savior who longs to gather us under his sheltering wings like a hen with her chicks. Or perhaps a Savior who can take away the detrimental thirst for alcohol and replace it with something that will never leave one thirsty. Or of a Savior who instead of waving a wand and saying the magic word, tirelessly attends to all those who need healing.
I had the opportunity to eat lunch with a couple who wouldn't limit God and his ability to help the country of Malawi, to watch an optometrist use his talents to allow others the opportunity to open their eyes to the Bible, to watch the 4 day journey up a river to bring hope to the forgotten of Nicaragua, and to hear story upon story of how people of all backgrounds and talents are thinking big ie not limiting God and thinking small ie not forgetting the individual person and purpose to bring the message of God's love to every corner of the world.
It has definitely caused this week to be one of conviction, convicted in God's calling for me, convicted in knowing more about this wonderful Savior who cared enough to seek out a little Michele some years ago, convicted to pray for all those he is still seeking, and convicted in the desire to prepare myself and seek out God's future plan for me. I only hope that I will allow him to use me in such a way as he has used those I saw this weekend.
Below are some links to some of the wonderful ways God is working throughout the world. Take a few minutes and check them out, pray for the work, and let missions change your life and the lives of others!
The Malawi Project
Health Talents International
Healing Hands
Glasses for Missions
Predisan
Partners in Progress
International Health Care Foundation
So there you have it. The management regretfully informs its faithful clientele that future posts will be few and far between due to three assessments of the management's knowledge of pathology, neurobiology, and microbiology over the next two weeks. Should any one of the subscribers need to contact the management within that time period, phone calls and emails are very effective means of doing so. Que Dios les bendiga!
9.12.2005
At Your Service
To all of you who have been waiting in eager suspense, here it is:
I thought about writing about the portly officer who stalked my neighbor and I last Friday on the trail (or was it us stalking him?) but they say write about what you know, and since I don’t know much about portly police officers nor my neighbor, I thought I’d write about something I do know or at least about something of which I have a feeble inkling of its definition. No, I won’t make you suffer through the paper I wrote for Honors Service Learning, though if you ever happen to be within the confines of UT-Knoxville and have three extra hours available in your schedule, I highly recommend taking the class. Nor will I steal your time by posting my senior honors thesis upon the narrow-margined blog space. What I’m actually writing about is the events of this past weekend when four fearless first year students and I attempted to serve the Hispanic community at Scott’s Farm.
As an attempt to help the first year students accrue their ten hours of “Service Learning” credit for a useless class under the broad heading of “Behavioral Science,” I had arranged for them to work with the migrant clinic at Scott’s Farm, held every Sunday afternoon. After consulting with the directors as to how we could assist with the clinic, we decided to script and perform a series of skits to illustrate basic health and hygiene principles. Unbeknownst to me, not only does the class of 2009 have a plethora of students with a basic knowledge of Spanish, but it also contains many aspiring actors as well. When the time came for us to arrive at Scott’s we were well-prepared with our crazy props for protective clothing against pesticides, our glitter and soap for demonstrating “germenes” and handwashing, and a unrivaled cohort of medical actors destined for UniVision’s spin-off of ER. Everything was ready for a successful day of educating the migrant workers. Except…no one thought to ask the migrant workers what they really wanted to hear.
After setting up our props and commencing our soon-to-be award-winning performance, we began to notice that our stellar act was not so well-received. The workers fixed their eyes on us in meaningless gaze as we “educated” them about the importance of preventing pesticide exposure and washing one’s hands to prevent disease. As we went from dormitory to dormitory, the response was the same. Once, our pesticide skit garnered a few half-hearted applauses from a worker as his friend simultaneously saluted us with his half-empty beer can. In almost all aspects, it was a dismal failure.
Yet, some would consider our “service” as a great benefit to the community. We often confuse the term “service” with the term “doing a good deed.” We confuse the idea of helping someone with the feeling of being appreciated for what we have done. Those who go out into the world, enthusiastic in their desire to help but directionless and unaware of the actual need, are dangerous in their unguided efforts, sometimes causing more harm than benefit to those in need of service. Had someone actually taken the time to ask what the concerns of the workers were, they might have listened more intently to our performance. Maybe they would have told us what they really wanted to learn was how to stay hopeful and motivated in a situation where the only entertainment comes from disc of technology or metal cans of beverage. Maybe if we had taken the time to get to know a few of the workers beforehand, we wouldn’t have appeared as a barrage of arrogant “gringos” coming in to teach “those people” a thing or two about the quotidian events of their lives.
On the other hand, as we were driving back to campus, I realized that our efforts were not totally unsuccessful. The medical students learned something. Their eyes were opened to something they might not have even considered existent within Washington County. I heard many of the mention how they were inspired to consider the idea of studying abroad over the summer so that they could better communicate with those whom they served. That’s one of the fascinating aspects of service. Though you come to serve and teach others, those being served teach you about yourself and through your service you discover characteristics and talents that you didn’t even know you possessed. Service is not just about doing a “good deed” or practicing “random acts of kindness;” rather, it is about living a lifestyle of looking inward at oneself only to see what can be given outwardly to meet the needs of the one being served. I leave you with a few quotes from Robert Cole’s The Call of Service. I couldn’t have said it better myself:
“I think part of doing community service is this—to be stopped in your tracks sometimes because you’ve seen so much you ordinarily wouldn’t, and you take time out and try to look at that big picture you don’t even want to see.”
“We serve, and they serve us by coming here—giving us a chance to serve, and so offering a service to us.”
“You can learn a lot when you do this kind of work…but you can also learn about yourself, your own psychology and politics and values…and so while you’re doing, you’re learning, and when you go back to school, to college, when you resume learning, you can do so differently because of the doing…what you learn out there then becomes a part of you, and it gives some new assumptions or attitudes to you…”
“Maybe we spend so much time trying to be of help to them, we end up not thinking of the consequences—what we come to mean to them…They are our fellow human beings, and if we are to call ourselves Christians, they are the people Jesus would have us think about and try to be with.”
I thought about writing about the portly officer who stalked my neighbor and I last Friday on the trail (or was it us stalking him?) but they say write about what you know, and since I don’t know much about portly police officers nor my neighbor, I thought I’d write about something I do know or at least about something of which I have a feeble inkling of its definition. No, I won’t make you suffer through the paper I wrote for Honors Service Learning, though if you ever happen to be within the confines of UT-Knoxville and have three extra hours available in your schedule, I highly recommend taking the class. Nor will I steal your time by posting my senior honors thesis upon the narrow-margined blog space. What I’m actually writing about is the events of this past weekend when four fearless first year students and I attempted to serve the Hispanic community at Scott’s Farm.
As an attempt to help the first year students accrue their ten hours of “Service Learning” credit for a useless class under the broad heading of “Behavioral Science,” I had arranged for them to work with the migrant clinic at Scott’s Farm, held every Sunday afternoon. After consulting with the directors as to how we could assist with the clinic, we decided to script and perform a series of skits to illustrate basic health and hygiene principles. Unbeknownst to me, not only does the class of 2009 have a plethora of students with a basic knowledge of Spanish, but it also contains many aspiring actors as well. When the time came for us to arrive at Scott’s we were well-prepared with our crazy props for protective clothing against pesticides, our glitter and soap for demonstrating “germenes” and handwashing, and a unrivaled cohort of medical actors destined for UniVision’s spin-off of ER. Everything was ready for a successful day of educating the migrant workers. Except…no one thought to ask the migrant workers what they really wanted to hear.
After setting up our props and commencing our soon-to-be award-winning performance, we began to notice that our stellar act was not so well-received. The workers fixed their eyes on us in meaningless gaze as we “educated” them about the importance of preventing pesticide exposure and washing one’s hands to prevent disease. As we went from dormitory to dormitory, the response was the same. Once, our pesticide skit garnered a few half-hearted applauses from a worker as his friend simultaneously saluted us with his half-empty beer can. In almost all aspects, it was a dismal failure.
Yet, some would consider our “service” as a great benefit to the community. We often confuse the term “service” with the term “doing a good deed.” We confuse the idea of helping someone with the feeling of being appreciated for what we have done. Those who go out into the world, enthusiastic in their desire to help but directionless and unaware of the actual need, are dangerous in their unguided efforts, sometimes causing more harm than benefit to those in need of service. Had someone actually taken the time to ask what the concerns of the workers were, they might have listened more intently to our performance. Maybe they would have told us what they really wanted to learn was how to stay hopeful and motivated in a situation where the only entertainment comes from disc of technology or metal cans of beverage. Maybe if we had taken the time to get to know a few of the workers beforehand, we wouldn’t have appeared as a barrage of arrogant “gringos” coming in to teach “those people” a thing or two about the quotidian events of their lives.
On the other hand, as we were driving back to campus, I realized that our efforts were not totally unsuccessful. The medical students learned something. Their eyes were opened to something they might not have even considered existent within Washington County. I heard many of the mention how they were inspired to consider the idea of studying abroad over the summer so that they could better communicate with those whom they served. That’s one of the fascinating aspects of service. Though you come to serve and teach others, those being served teach you about yourself and through your service you discover characteristics and talents that you didn’t even know you possessed. Service is not just about doing a “good deed” or practicing “random acts of kindness;” rather, it is about living a lifestyle of looking inward at oneself only to see what can be given outwardly to meet the needs of the one being served. I leave you with a few quotes from Robert Cole’s The Call of Service. I couldn’t have said it better myself:
“I think part of doing community service is this—to be stopped in your tracks sometimes because you’ve seen so much you ordinarily wouldn’t, and you take time out and try to look at that big picture you don’t even want to see.”
“We serve, and they serve us by coming here—giving us a chance to serve, and so offering a service to us.”
“You can learn a lot when you do this kind of work…but you can also learn about yourself, your own psychology and politics and values…and so while you’re doing, you’re learning, and when you go back to school, to college, when you resume learning, you can do so differently because of the doing…what you learn out there then becomes a part of you, and it gives some new assumptions or attitudes to you…”
“Maybe we spend so much time trying to be of help to them, we end up not thinking of the consequences—what we come to mean to them…They are our fellow human beings, and if we are to call ourselves Christians, they are the people Jesus would have us think about and try to be with.”
9.05.2005
These Birks Aren't Made for Walking
V-O-L-S!!!
I should know that a trip to Knoxville is never without a random outdoor adventure. However, having been gone from my former alma mater for months, I neglected to pack appropriate footwear. Anyone who believes hippies hiked all over California, and wherever else hippies live, in Birkenstocks is sadly mistaken. I personally think they are the ones who invented Chaco's. They just hid the design for abut 20-30 years until they realized the massive profit that could be made from selling these second soles to college yuppies. That being said, I wasn't wearing my Chaco's when the proposition was made that we should go burn all those calories from Pelancho's by a jaunt up the side of House Mountain.
Nor did anyone mention that this excursion would include a near-death slip (due to improper footwear) down a hundred foot cliff (ok maybe it was more like a twenty foot slope) or bouldering practice. Despite the slight mishaps and some girl's inflamed feet, it was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
There's just something about seeing people and spending time with them that trumps any amount of emails, IM's, or phone calls. There's just something about sitting around and sharing life with your brothers and sisters in Christ, knowing that we're all in this struggle together. There are those places that occupy a special place in our hearts, not due to the geographic features or amenities; rather, due to the memories they contain of the friendships made and shared within their boundaries. I can't wait until the day when all those special places will become one, heaven, and we will have eternity to "catch up" and renew old acquaintances. To all my K-town peeps, it was great to see you again. Thanks for all the talks, laughs, meals, and adventures we shared the past few days. Your med school nerd friend is going back into the vault, but you'd better save the weekend of October 7-9th for another appointment with the great outdoors. I assure you that I'll bring the proper footwear.
"I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see." -John Burroughs
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