More Truth Amidst the Rain Part 1

My consciousness has deepened and broadened more than I ever thought possible. Language is such a beautiful thing and so important to polish if you want to be understood by the people around you. Effective communication allows us to have more meaningful lives.

I'm working on describing things in a way that I can put myself in a certain mental state. Doing this centers me and keeps me focused. This little mantra will be tried out tonight before I go out tonight:

Picture yourself in Lisbon with the sticky humid air and the springtime sun is beginning to fall in the sky. As you imagine this you can hear the sounds of Portuguese being spoken all around you. A slight breeze wafts the clouds and runs through your long curly hair. While you remember what it was like to feel the wind you can also remember the way that your shoes felt on your feet, the leather bracelet on your arm, the pulse of your heart as you climb the many hills.

Although the air is crisp you still feel the heat of your body rising from your chest to your head. You realize that sense of urgency and passion was a driving sense of movement. As you remember the physical feelings of movement you can also remember the feelings of invincibility, excitement, and confidence. Because you can remember these things, you can feel them again. While realizing this, you can understand that these feelings are what give you your true power and efficacy. When you put those shoes on that day, as you have done today and will do tomorrow, that feeling of mental clarity and fullness took over.



Now that I understand this effective fluid method of speech patterns...I can use them to help my students. For example, the art class of 30 13 year old students wouldn't settle down for anything. After the teacher yelled at them and expressed disappointment in Spanish I asked her "Puedo probar algo? Quiero hablar con ellos en una manera diferente para descubrir si pueden prestar atencion." She agreed and then I told them something along these lines:

You are all in class to learn art and English. (they nodded...some shrugged and squirmed. One in the back glanced up from his assignment. All eyes were finally fixed on me.) I understand that it can be challenging and exciting at the same time. As you sit there I want you to remember your Christmas. What was it like? How did you feel? Because you can speak English, we can communicate and have fun.

A girl in the front raised her hand "With my family!"

Yes! You were with your family! How was it?

"I got a lot of presents. I liked it a lot. I felt happy and not lonely"

Eventually I walked through an entire lesson in 10 minutes with their full attention. We covered vocabulary, the assignment, and  Since coming to Madrid one year ago...I have expanded my horizons, polished my professionalism, and studied a lot of psychological processes along with their associated effects. Having a legion of eager private students helps me use my newfound skills to help people even more efficiently.

The clouds finally broke amidst the falling rain. It seems ironic that in this dry city that this change should come at the sunniest time in the last year. In my life I have had a lot of drives, thoughts, tangents, interests, and goals. The final and most important of them is to practice medicine.

I broke the law once in 2008 and didn't balance my studies, volunteer activities, and  in 2009-2010 studies (I took on too many responsibilities...did them well...but didn't do them as well as I would have liked). These have been setbacks to my long-term goal of working to help people.

However, I didn't let the quarter-long suspension stop me. It deepened my intensity and showed me what would happen if I fell. Indeed there had been a lot of setbacks when I sent out my applications.

First there was the money problem. After school I thought that applications and my transition into professional life would be easy. At my graduation party I thought I had life by the tail. My MCAT score was sufficient relative to what I wanted... and I had a pipe-dream of going to Spain to perfect my Spanish for the OPI. However...more setbacks were on the horizon.

I will continue this in part 2