Eggs in Two, Three, Four Baskets

I’m sorry to have neglected the blog yesterday. I owe particular apology to Porter, who emailed me today to remind me I had not written since Friday. (to avoid confusion in the future, the blog is a job, and therefore I perform it during the workweek)

Yesterday was a big day in the rest of my life. I began volunteering at the hospital in the Pediatric Emergency Department. It took me one shift in the ER to decide that I’m going to have to learn some Spanish.

This previous statement will only horrify a few people, namely my mother and Mrs. Davila, my high school Spanish teacher. Both of these sainted women took the brunt of my furious battle against Spanish during high school… I lost. So when I arrived at UNC, I begrudgingly took the two mandatory Spanish classes to allow me to graduate and said Adios!

Until yesterday my more advanced Spanish consisted of “Es lo que ella dijo”, which was patiently taught to me last spring by my two (fluent) roommates. It was in preparation for our spring break trip around Spain. For those as linguistically challenged as myself, that’s Spanish for “That’s what she said”. (For those that are pop culture challenged, it’s a line from Michael Scott of The Office. If you don’t know Michael Scott of The Office, then I can’t help you.)

Luckily for me, I seem to be in good company. There are many aspiring medical professionals in need of some newfound aptitude de Espanol. For this reason, there is a Spanish class taught through the Friday Center for Part-Time Studies specifically for medical professionals. So I know at least one more thing I will be doing this year.

But this kind of diversifying seems to be the reemerging theme behind post-graduate life. Which can be a difficult adjustment in some respects. Even though UNC is a liberal arts education and has requirements in several curriculums, that’s not always the attitude reflected by students and faculty. There is an attitude that if a class is not in your major, it’s just as elective. (Although not an all together untrue statement, its carries a negative connotation) And from the faculty side of things, there are certain professors or departments non-majors simply do not take because if you don’t major in their field, it’s a widely accepted notion that they will… remind you why that particular subject is not your major.

My Dad is still bitter about the 'C' he got from an English professor his freshmen year. Apparently this man had the audacity to have the class write down their name and major and pass them in. According to my Dad, at the end of the semester all the humanity majors got A’s and B’s. And the lowly science majors like himself received C’s. (Unsolved mystery as to how my Dad knows the grades of every person in the class.) But I’d be lying to say I don’t have the exact same feeling about a grade I received from a TA I had in an elective course. (Which ironically enough, is a prerequisite for many PA schools…)

Maybe it’s the student’s fault for not taking a non-major class seriously enough. Maybe it’s the professor/TA’s fault for not expecting good work from a non-major. If everyone were honest, I’d bet it’d some of both…

But here in lies the danger. If students or faculty feel that students can only, or should only, thrive within their major we, as a generation, are poorly prepared for the real world. Success in the real world is rarely based on the mastery of a single skill. Only so many people get to be so invaluable that it justifies that their entire effort be channeled to that one purpose.

Amy Winehouse is one of those people. She’s a cracked out mess. I hear she sings too. But mostly what I want from her is a spectacle. And that’s all I ever expect from her.

What we’re going for people, is Mylie Cyrus. That girl has a TV show, a #1 song on iTunes, a hit movie in the box office, magazines covers, including Vanity Fair, and was up for a Relly Award on Regis and Kelly today. I’m not usually a Mylie fan, but the girl is covering her bases.

As the economy turns around, success (and gainful employment) will be based more on one’s ability to fuse their skills to a productive end than it has in the past. And that means, despite my specialized college degree, I'm gonna have to diversify. I may want to be a PA. But its unlikely I will be very good unless puedo hablar con mi pacientes…