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Class of 2016: Congrats on Your Journey
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As I sit here writing today’s Practice Perfect, my kids are watching a movie called Song of the Sea. This is a sweet Irish movie about a little boy and his sister. The boy had lost his mother during the birth of his sister, who happened to be a selkie, a magical creature who lives in the water as a seal and changes into a human on land. The boy is angry and resentful of his sister, and it takes a dangerous journey through a mystical land for the boy to grow as a person and realize his love for his sister.
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The theme of the journey is a common one in literature. Termed the monomyth, or hero’s journey, this trope is one with which we are all familiar. Our hero is forced to go on a journey in order to accomplish some goal. He or she must overcome obstacles in order to return home, transformed by the experience. Think of the epic poem Ulysses or the more modern Lord of the Rings story. Our hero, Frodo, in Tolkien’s story, journeys to destroy the ring, triumphing in the end but changing in the process.
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The Shapiro children watching Song of the Sea on a quiet Saturday morning.
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This is a well-known and appreciated theme because it is one we all go through during life. Each of us has our own journey with its own trials, successes, and failures.
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Spring marks the end of the academic year for some of my students, and I find it an exciting one. Some take a break, while others are ready to progress to clinics; some graduate, moving on to residency. I’m blessed with the opportunity to work with trainees at almost all levels from start to finish. I lecture to first year students, run a course for the second year, work with the third year as they begin clinics, and help them complete their undergraduate education during their fourth year. Now, I also work with residents and soon will see my first two residents graduate on to clinical practice. It’s fascinating to see students in each of these educational levels, since each is a unique part of the voyage.
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Recently, I was speaking with one of my mentees – Western University College of Podiatric Medicine has an ongoing mentorship program in which incoming students are assigned a faculty mentor to help them with various aspects of school – and realized the similarities between the literary monomyth and the real-life one. This student had failed a course and will remediate over the summer. What struck me was her attitude toward this situation. She described that, at the outset, she was overconfident, but the situation had taught her a lesson. She used the phrase “it’s a journey” to describe her situation, and I found that to be a very positive attitude. She learned from her experience that she would need focus and fortitude to succeed. I am confident that she will triumph because of that positive outlook.
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In a similar manner, I never fail to be surprised by my graduating students. I spend a good deal of time with them as novices during the early part of their education, and just as they’re starting to become clinically proficient, they go on to their clerkships. The Western U podiatry students do seven months of clerkships around the country, and when they return to school for graduation, they seem like different people. They’ve grown up and are ready to move on to residency. In some ways, I feel like a parent that has watched his kids grow up and go away to college. It’s astounding to realize that each of these individuals have gone through their own monomyth, their own heroic journey to become physicians. And like all of us they will continue that journey into the future.
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So, to all of you graduating students around the country – Class of 2016 – I wish you all the excitement, thrills, and success during the rest of your journey.
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