A Smooth Delivery

Delivering a speech and delivering a child are in fact, more similar than you think. Both require tireless dedication, incredible patience, tremendous practice and skill, and most importantly, improvisation. When life doesn't go according to plan, both public speakers and obstetrician-gynecologists need to be prepared to improvise and make the impossible possible to achieve their success.

In my past eleven years of education, every single piece of writing, every homework assignment, every begrudgingly finished group project has been centered around one key idea: a curriculum. The teachers understand what the state wants them to accomplish, the students understand what the teachers want them to accomplish, and before you know it, you're done with one course and off to the next. But in ISM, things work a little differently. Instead of the curriculum defining you, you get to define the curriculum. These past few weeks have been incredibly refreshing and eye-opening for me, as they have allowed me to experience the feeling of not researching for a grade, but researching for myself. I started the school year with introduction speech, explaining to my peers my character as an individual and the passions I am incredibly thrilled to pursue. Although speeches are intended to portray confidence, I decided to go a different route: the raw truth. Allowing myself to be completely honest and open to both my ISM 1 instructor, Coach Goff, and my classmates has taught me to embrace vulnerability and employ it as a strength, as well to relish the ongoing support and community that the ISM classroom offers. Additionally, I have written one of the most impactful papers I have ever written this week: My First Research Assessment. This week, I assessed the effects of paternal age on perinatal morbidity, which has been incredibly fascinating and captivating, yet also challenging. I've explored an immense breadth of information, from in-vitro fertilization to gestational diabetes to the correlation between the quality of spermatozoa on psychiatric disorders. This First Research Assessment has not demoralized me on the expected research to come, but rather invigorated me to test the boundaries of my learning and stoke the fires of my passion. For my next research assignment, I would love to investigate further into the complexities of gestational diabetes or the correlation between gametes (ovum and sperm) on psychiatric conditions and infant mortality. I wonder if I can contact the original author of the paper and ask them what further research they believe is useful in the field of obstetrics and gynecology.

On the other hand, I have had some difficulties connecting with a professional to schedule an interview, but it is a work in progress. I plan to continue to work tirelessly towards updating my Digital Portfolio and my LinkedIn page and hope to get at least two interviews scheduled by this Friday. I want to work on establishing greater connections in the Dallas Fort-Worth metroplex, become more independent, and continue striving for success in my journey these next few weeks in the ISM program.