This morning, our group set out on a short hike up a mountain to a beautiful waterfall. On the way up, it started to rain, and the rain only became heavier throughout the morning. It began to get colder, the sleeves of my jacket were soaked, and my fingers and toes were going numb. We had to hike over running streams and over stubborn, slippery snow. But as we reached the top, we were having a great time. The waterfall itself was adding to the downpour, and I could barely see the others, as the water was running into my eyes. If anyone had described this scene to me prior to this hike, I would say that sounds miserable. But the experience was incredibly freeing, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt as invigorated. We started back down the mountain, and sure, the bottom could not come soon enough. We… Continue reading →

I would probably make a terrible business negotiator.

Today, we participated in an exercise in which I was playing the part of a real estate executive hoping to make a lucrative business deal with another company. I wanted to buy a piece of land for commercial use, but the seller was under the impression I’d be using it for residential purposes, which would make less profit. Because of this, I could afford to buy the land for a much higher price than she ended up selling it to me for, and she was unaware I was set to make a much bigger profit.

My first inclination when this exercise began was to disclose to the seller that I was intending to use the land for commercial purposes and what my profits were projected to be. Then I wanted to offer to buy the land for a price reflecting the same… Continue reading →

While completing my undergrad degree, I was a member of our school’s mock trial team. I will be honest – this was not my favorite experience, and I have rarely mentioned it since. I figured out rather quickly that law would certainly not be the career I ended up in. But I’d made the commitment, and it did do wonders for my public speaking skills. Making arguments in defense of questionable acts and making convincing accusations required learning a few lessons. Among these lessons, in addition to quips such as “fake it till you make it” (a lesson I don’t believe fits in well with medicine, for the record) was the idea that if we defined our reality strongly enough that we believed it ourselves, we could make the “judge” and “jury” believe it too. For example, when we played the side of the defense attorney standing up for a… Continue reading →