I have always considered myself an anomaly of human nature. Perhaps it is because my father was a scientist, a Chemist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory who worked in Hazardous Waste Management and Nuclear Counter-Terrorism, while my mother sewed my clothes, entered me in fashion shows, encouraged my love of music and theatre, and encouraged my imagination.
In high school, I achieved academic success equally well in the sciences (biology, anatomy & physiology, algebra, geometry, algebra II) as in the more creative or humanistic disciplines (band, French, speech & debate, drama). I was a gymnast. I studied dance my entire life and began performing in dance theatre at the age of 13. I had always wanted to be a cardiovascular surgeon, but decided I didn't want to go to medical school because I didn't want to spend that many years in school. So I pursued a theatre degree. And yet, because I was bored with just the performance and creativity, I declared astronomy/astrophysics as a dual major (which I unfortunately never completed because I got married, divorced, and became a single mother as an undergraduate).
In addition to the biological sciences, I have always enjoyed astronomy & astrophysics. I completed my M.A. in Communication and my Ph.D. in Speech Communication, both with a focus on media studies, though I conduct close textual analyses, which some would argue is a more analytical (and, hence, scientific) approach to rhetorical analysis. I never lost my passion for the sciences, though.
During a particularly difficult period of my life, I taught middle school and actually taught Math (standard grade-specific classes, as well as algebra). I also taught SAT Prep, and was highly sought-after because I could not only teach the Critical Writing and Critical Reading prep, but I could also teach the Critical Reasoning (math) prep.
My mother's health had deteriorated significantly and we needed to obtain home-health care services, but we could not afford the out-of-pocket expense. Because I was teaching at a community college, I pursued Nursing certification. However, because I had not taken the requisite science classes within the past five years, I was required to take Biology for Health Science Majors, Anatomy & Physiology I & II, Chemistry, and Microbiology before I could actually apply to the Nursing Program. I excelled in these classes. I dissected a sheep's heart so skillfully that the tricuspid and bicuspid (Mitral) valves were perfectly intact. I dissected a sheep's brain so skillfully that the arbor vitae was clearly visible and the pineal gland easily identifiable. Dissecting the cow's eyeball was SO cool. Who knew that the lens is as hard as a marble? And don't even get me started on Microbiology. My favorite class ever! Not only was it amazing to learn the different mounts, but to see eColi swimming around and jumping and twirling in a wet mount (eColi is motile), to be able to clearly identify microbes like staphylococcus aureus, p.aeroginosa, and others, and to test microbes to identify unknowns was so enjoyable. It allowed me to use my scientific knowledge in conjunction with my analytical skills to solve the puzzle. My only problem... my instructor hated my lab reports because they were too wordy, detailed, and descriptive (a characteristic of humanistic writing). Still, if I had it to do all over again, I might become a microbiologist.
For a period of time, I considered leaving academia and pursuing Nursing as a new career. I had worked for ten years as an adjunct, unable to obtain a permanent position because the college where I taught had adopted a business model that favored adjuncts over permanent faculty and, in fact, was encouraging long-time permanent faculty to retire so they could hire more part-timers (and pay them less and not provide benefits, but offer more sections).
While in the Nursing Program, I excelled. However, it became evident early on that I would never be a good nurse. Nurses aren't supposed to diagnose anything, or even speculate. Nurses are only supposed to take vital signs, take notes to provide to the physicians about a patient's complaint, and comfort patients. We administered medications and injections. But we were treated like dirt. One day, while I was caring for an 82-year-old man who had been admitted through the Emergency Department with a battery of tests to determine if he was suffering from pneumonia or congestive heart failure, I discovered that I was too smart for my own good (and too good to play second fiddle to a physician who clearly thought he was "all that" but who was failing his patients). As any good nurse does at the beginning of the shift, I read the patients' medical charts, updated myself on any developments in their condition, and read all consults that had been received. This particular patient had received consults from Pulmonology, Cardiology, and Radiology, all of which clearly stated that there was no evidence of pneumonia, but that there was clear left ventricular dysfunction (the left ventricle of the heart is the chamber that pumps oxygenated blood out to the body, the most important chamber of the heart). The family, a very blue-collar family, expressed concern to me that the patient wasn't improving at all, and I suggested they tell the physician that (he was a recent med school graduate who was a "hospitalist," an on-staff physician rather than a separately-billing physician with an independent practice). I was taking the patient's vitals when the physician entered and the patient's daughter expressed his concern. The physician immediately began talking in his most complicated and technical medical terminology, which infuriated me, so I started translating over the top of him so the family could understand what he was saying. And then he said he would increase the patient's respiratory treatments to 4x daily and keep treating him with antibiotics. Wait. What?!?! The patient had no evidence of pneumonia whatsoever, so what good would respiratory treatments and antibiotics do? When the physician left, I gave the family the direct phone number for the cardiologist who had completed the consult, as well as the number for the hospital's patient advocate. I told them to request a different physician and to file a complaint against the physician who was just in the room and who was the attending for the patient. I then walked out of the patient's room and told the physician I was sorry for talking over him, but that the family clearly didn't understand his medical terminology so I was translating. I then looked at him and said, "did you by any chance look at the consults before you entered the room? Because you're going to kill this patient." I then went to the Charge Nurse and said, "I'll never be a nurse and I'll never get a job as a nurse," and told her the story. The following week my clinicals had me in the Operating Room and it became clear that if I were to ever truly be involved in medicine, I would have to go to medical school because I wanted to be conducting the surgeries (I observed a cholecystectomy--gallbladder removal, a lumpectomy--breast lump removal, a hiatal hernia repair, and the excision of a mole for testing to determine if it was benign or malignant). I finished the semester with certification as a Certified Nursing Assistant and Certified Medication Technician and never went back (though I kind of wish I had completed the next semester because I would at least be a Licensed Professional Nurse).
And then I was offered the position at LaGuardia and relocated to NYC. Woo!
All this is to say that my very being challenges the "Two Cultures." I am passionate about math and science (algebra, especially... and I have tutored several LaGCC students who are also my advisees in algebra). I have helped students devise study plans for biology and chemistry and helped them create methods for remembering, for instance, how to balance chemical equations. And yet I teach for the Humanities Department. I am living proof for my students that the humanities and sciences are not--nor do they have to be--mutually exclusive. I continue to explore astronomy and astrophysics (and love Discovery's "The Universe" and other shows). I watch medical shows on Discovery ("Untold Stories of the ER" and "Trauma: Life in the ER"... I had considered being a trauma nurse). I love shows like "NCIS," "CSI," "Elementary," and "Criminal Minds" that use scientific deduction to solve crimes. I loved the show "Numbers." But I also love Shakespeare, attending performances of the New York Philharmonic, reading, and dancing (I want to learn Belly Dancing). I meditate daily and love exploring metaphysics and different (mostly Eastern) spiritual practices. And in the midst of all of this... I'm an avid rock climber, so I'm a naturalist as well.
As I said, I'm an anomaly of human nature. My very existence challenges the Two Cultures dichotomy. I tell my students that I'm not normal. And I'm not. But I think that's a good thing.
