"I feel like crap. My fever finally broke yesterday, and I'm just barely beginning to come around....ever wonder why we run a fever?" he asked. "Bacteria and viruses are temperature sensitive," I answered. "They are?" he asked, looking intrigued. "Yeah...when the hypothalamus elevates the body temperature, it's so that it can raise it to a level where the bacteria and viruses can't survive. At the same time, the liver sequesters iron and zinc so that the pathogen cannot replicate it's genetic material. Iron and zinc are required for replication." I answer. "Where'd you learn that?" he asked me, looking baffled. "From an amazing professor," I responded.
In the past, I've been lucky. Each semester since I've returned to school, I've been picking my courses by how they fit into my schedule. Without much to consider other than the subject matter and time slot, I've gone into the class with reasonable expectations and I've had very few disappointments.
Most semesters, I've had at least one instructor that really stood out - like the one who taught me this lesson about fever.
I'm the student that hangs onto every word. In a crowd of people facebooking, I sit in front of all those computer screen distrations and get every penny I can out of my instructor's time and energy. I'll be paying for this collegiate experience for years to come, and I don't want to get an education without getting an education. My future depends on it, and so does the future of my future patients.
So, this semester I've realized just how lucky I've been in the past to have educators who teach their material with passion in their voice and a glimmer in their eye. I've had to dig into something deeper as I've realized that there are professors who are distracted, who can at times teach their material with less engagement and enthusiasm than a teenager flipping burgers on a Saturday night. I've been disappointed. I've been frustrated, and I've had to really dig deep and learn what I can from whomever is willing to teach me.
The body is the most amazing, most incredible piece of equipment walking this earth. Science and art combined, the human being has infinite processes that take place every microsecond. In a field that has zero room for error, I am the one who is entering a chosen profession where I am caring for these souls....souls that often hang in delicate space where intervention becomes necessary. Patients need amazing nurses, and nurses need amazing educators. This doesn't alleviate the student's responsibility for self-teaching and reinforcement, but rather there must be a synergistic effect to allow the material, the professor's guidance, and the student's thirst for knowledge all come together.
So, this semester I've made sure that I've thanked those who have inspired and educated me in the past...who educate me still. They give more than they have to. For the student who soaks up knowledge like a sponge, it is known that their knowledge is not a result of their hard work alone, but of that of the instructor who invested a piece of them every day on that lecturn.
They stand elevated.