Fever Dream Part 2: Oh The People You'll Meet
Hold on to your sentimental hearts for this thought: I wholeheartedly believe that everyone brings something to the table. Chalk it up to island vibes and/or toxic positivity, but I continually found something to like about everyone I met in Galveston. In this section, I will highlight four individuals I’ve met during my journey down south. Below are the last two individuals. Grab your tissues and hold onto your hearts.
The Research Partner
One of the first people I met in Galveston was my research partner, The Research Partner. She was the person I ended up spending the most time with on the island, and eventually, became a dear friend. Initially, however, I wasn’t sure if we would get along.
Research Partner and I got off on the wrong start simply because her stoic, no-nonsense personality contrasted with my overly friendly, nonsensical personality. It was as if we had both embodied the core attributes of where we’re from–while I was coming from a small town-like city, she was coming from the heart of Chicago, Illinois. Are we even going to get along? I wondered with concern. It wasn’t until I saw her watching Survivor one day, a show I had come to thoroughly enjoy over the past few years, that I knew everything would work out.
With Survivor being the kickoff, Research Partner and I continued to find more similarities than anticipated in addition to many pleasant differences. In fact, it was these differences that added to the richness of our friendship because there was always so much to learn from Research Partner and her insights. One commonality was that we were in similar places in our lives, exploring statistics seriously as a future career. We also shared similar, practical outlooks on our options for higher education. We had countless, meaningful discussions throughout the summer where we reflected on how our experience in the program was impacting our career decisions.
At one point, we realized that we had the most in common with each other as compared to the other program attendees. We both came from similar social backgrounds, and shared introverted, observant tendencies. The statistics summer program brought students from the full spectrum of socioeconomic statuses, which gave me perspective about my own privileges and lack thereof. I deeply valued having someone like Research Partner in a new, unfamiliar place, who provided some necessary grounding to process group interactions that had underlying tones of different social statuses at play.
As I found out over time, our differences didn’t clash as I had initially suspected they would. Alternatively, our differences balanced each other out–especially when it came to our differences in perspective, like our interpretation of art. While exploring the ArtWalk in downtown Galveston one evening, we stumbled upon the Arts Center. At the center, there was a textured art piece depicting a golden foil crack, much like cracks in cement, that started at the top left corner and spread across the entire piece. My eyes fixated at the top left corner, where the crack started. Tracing how the crack spread across the canvas, I felt the piece represented something opening up or spreading. As an art novice, I remember sheepishly sharing my observation, which I felt was too obvious and simple.
To my surprise, Research Partner’s gaze went straight to the bottom right corner, interpreting the painting as starting out as chaos being contained as it approached the top left corner. (Certainly, you could suggest that perhaps I need to address what seems like a taste for chaos at some point, which I would counter with I’m doing just fine, the gold foil was what enticed me to the top left corner, and good day to you...). Our opposing takeaways from the artwork made me realize that our minds truly see things differently. Not only that, but our minds appeared to perceive our surroundings in starkly polar ways. This fact made spending time with Research Partner all the more exciting simply because of the new perspectives she exposed me to.
A moment of appreciation
There were also many moments that left me impressed with her skill at quickly deducing other people’s motivations–it's a skill I hope to refine some day. One example was when she seamlessly figured out a “Whodunnit” involving a front porch beam that was broken by another program attendee. Working out every attendee’s personality and behavior as it related to the incident, I remember watching in awe as she correctly identified the individual, the motive, and the manner in which the incident took place.
Yeah, I’m going to miss her
Looking back on our time together, I appreciate how much common ground Research Partner and I found and the delightful differences that enriched our friendship. My time in Galveston will always be intertwined with Research Partner, and that’s something I’m grateful for. In fact, our friendship has been a personal reminder for me that we often have more similarities than we do differences with people. It is also a reminder to seek out those similarities and equally appreciate how enriching the differences can be. If there’s anyone I hope I see again, it’s definitely Research Partner–if only to continue to see the world through her eyes.
The Graduate Student
Another incredible person Galveston introduced me to was The Graduate Student, whose data I analyzed as part of my summer research project. Graduate Student was in the penultimate year of her PhD program, but had an interesting academic journey of going from the army to nursing school to a masters program exploring the immune system to ultimately the dual MPH-PhD program she's currently enrolled in. Despite the vastness in her experiences, Graduate Student was a grounded person with earnest intentions to support science lovers of all levels of experience and to make research exciting for anyone listening to her.
I deeply admired her work ethic, her inclination toward curiosity, her ability to see the big picture behind her work, her honesty about her PhD experience, and how she fostered a welcoming environment for all students on campus. It was difficult to not want to feel similarly motivated and passionate about science when I was around her. In fact, she reignited my interest in research and helped me recognize that a PhD was not unattainable for myself. As I was pivoting from healthcare, it was comforting to have someone like Graduate Student welcome me to a world within medicine but outside of healthcare.
One of the most memorable moments with Graduate Student was watching her perform lung collections for her ongoing research on Respiratory Syncytial Virus. In between making incisions, performing bronchoalveolar lavages, and dissecting lungs from mice, she answered my many questions including general life advice, the PhD program, and her journey into science. To my luck, she responded to each question with transparency and practical insight. Recognizing how access to mentors like her can be hard to come by, I deeply value the time and advice Graduate Student gave me. Leaving her lab that day, I remember feeling more sure of how to navigate my next career decisions and felt equally assured that thanks to leaders in science like Graduate Student, the next era of research will be in capable and competent hands.
Until next time...
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