Part of mastery is telling the story.
The author of this quote worked for many years in the neonatal unit of a major hospital in the Chicago area. As she observed, many families lovingly recite the details of the births of their children. There almost gets to be a ritualized procedure in the retelling of these stories at subsequent family get-togethers. When the relatives gather for birthdays, for holidays, for weddings, and even to mourn together for funerals, how often the conversation turns to pulling back together these reveries, to remembering. The same portions of the birth stories are told in the same order by the same participants. The expectant mother tells how nervous the cabbie was when he arrived at the house and during the drive to the hospital, no matter how she reassured him that she was not going to deliver on the way. And, oh yes, she had to give him directions. Her mother chimes in to narrate how her grade school principal came to her classroom door to tell her she needed to leave immediately for the hospital a month earlier than her daughter’s baby was due (for you youngsters, there was a time, not that long ago, when there were not cell phones). As she tells of her hurried drive, she still trembles with that same anxiety she felt that day. And so it goes: the father tells his side, the other siblings pipe up, extended family add bits about where they were and how they heard. Telling the story is one way of mastering this life we live.
Tell Your Story
And here you are, conceiving all sorts of new thoughts as a student at UAMS. In due time you too are expected to deliver. What sort of story will you tell? Who are the heroes? Who are the villains, the trusty sidekicks, the crusty trainer, the comic relief, the love interest? What are the unexpected plot twists, the obstacles to be overcome? Is this a feel good tear-jerker? Is this the story of a small-town girl who becomes the family medical expert? What sort of character development have you undergone here? You are here to master your material, to become a master of your trade. Part of your mastery is telling your story. Make it a good one, and tell it well.
Susan Johnson Kline. “The Voices on Obstetrics: Participants and Partners.”