All the Trumpets of the Sky...

It is mid-semester here with Spring less than a month away. We are knee-deep in microbiology, physiology, essentials of patient care, osteopathic manipulation, and snow.

Oh my gosh the snow....

After a winter that at best can be described as *ahem* pretty lame, the snow finally began here on Valentine's Day - and has yet to let up for more than a day or two. We have received inches upon inches of the white stuff sandwiched between layers of sleet and ice. Though the temperature hasn't been terribly low, nor has there been much wind, the snow remains relentless in making many roads impassible thus keeping hundreds of DCOM students virtual prisoners in their own homes. We have missed eight days of classes and will miss at least a couple of more. Oh that snow...

Despite the inconvenience, the faculty and staff at DCOM has risen to this challenge, making sure students have access to online classes and study guides as well as personally seeing to it that students in the dorms have food. These past 2 weeks have confirmed to me that DCOM is so much more than a "medical school". It's a village, a tight community of people who will go to incredible lengths to take care of each other. For the class of 2018 we began last Fall as a nervous, motley group of strangers that, in the ensuing months and especially in the face of our current situation, are becoming a team. This transformation is remarkable to behold.

I better let you go for now.  It's snowing outside...

                                                                                                  © 2015 FullerFoto

The Candyman

By nature, I'm a competitive individual. Since my youth I purposed to excel at what I thought I might be good at: namely academics. I worked to be at the top of my class and, for some schools, I achieved my goal. I was determined to lead the pack and set the example for others to follow.

My oh my how things have changed.

Though I have had the pleasure of serving (and competing) with many talented and intelligent people in the past, here at LMU-DCOM I find myself surrounded by an entirely new breed of classmate. Every one of my 240+ classmates seems endowed with extraordinary, almost supernatural, intelligence. They are bright, logical, and witty. Every day, when I show up, I am impressed anew with their intellect and ability. They seem to grasp the course-work with ease and are able, like youthful Sherlock Holmes, to draw reasonable conclusions. Often I stand back in respectful awe. Who ARE these people? I wonder. They are a diverse group, these mighty oaks among whom I learn. They hail from a dozen countries and nearly every state in the union. In this group are scientists, biologists, professional singers, former clergy, college athletes and uber-geeks. I cannot think of an ethnicity that is not represented. In short, they are amazing.

I sometimes wonder what I am doing amongst so august a group. I'm half expecting a school administrator to pull me out of class one day and say, "I'm sorry Mr. Fuller, but we made a mistake letting you in the school. You are qualified only to alphabetize our M&Ms in the school cafeteria". I am a midget among giants, a pauper among Picassos.

The up side of this happy situation is that every day I learn not only from the school professors but also from these talented classmates. I can truly say that I would not make it through school without their ready help. I am grateful for them and honored to call them colleagues. May God bless each of them.

I must get back to my M&Ms....