Doctor: But Not the Kind Who Helps Anyone!

I never planned this. Actually, I never planned this but worked towards this my entire life. My passion is books with varying degrees of success over my lifetime. As I respected the purpose of books, to learn, to teach, to entertain, to improve, to love, to live, I started on a journey, without even knowing I took the first step. Education was required in a setting more suited to one size fits all without the opportunity to be creative, to individually learn our strengths and weaknesses. We didn't have specialists, or coteachers, or parapros, or psychologists, or advocates or even individual plans to determine if we, as individuals were on the right track, as long as a collective that we were on the only track. Considering the next step that wasn't required, college or vocational school, or the military, or co-ops, or anything beyond high school, usually meant getting a job. But that is about the time that I, and many others, thought we could better are chances by spending more time in the classroom. I understood that the courses led to programs, led to graduation, led to a better job more suited to us individually, but I also knew personally, that it meant more time with books. For me, reading was as basic and important as breathing, or moving, or eating, or surviving. While these books were required, what we gained from them was exponential, depending on what we put into them and what we got out of them. I wanted to learn everything, and the books were a tool to help me on a path towards a degree; its knowledge critical towards finding my vocation in life. So one degree, led to another, and another. When I wanted to learn another subject, I'd take a class and then take all of them. Currently, I'm holding steady at thirteen degrees including three doctorates. But for everything I gained on these pursuits, I couldn't myself, I couldn't remove what made me, me! I kept the same passion in helping others as I was helped, with the same "strange" interests, and personality, and view of giving back, to become one with a better community, while keeping all that allowed me to be complete. While the drive is always there, I've learned to adjust to reality, while keeping my humor and honor, knowing the most important things in my life aren't always found in a book, nor with knowledge, realizing that while I see a task that may need doing, I understand that I may not be the best candidate to do it. My family, as my support, have always kept me grounded. My mom says it best (and perhaps this helps in understanding where I get my strange sense of humor from) when at a gathering, she introduced me as, "this is my son, the doctor, but not the kind who helps other people!" Now I know I could take that many ways, but it always makes me laugh when I think about it. The important thing is, do you know what you are doing, and having a little humor along the way doesn't hurt!