Travels of a Dodo

 

Aug 9^th, 2009. Seattle Tacoma Airport.

 

5:35pm. I’m waiting/napping/pondering by myself for five hours at the airport, after what was probably an unfortunate scheduling logistics thing. Shuttle at 12:30, flight at 6:30, such is life, I suppose.

For the first four hours, I took a prolonged siesta on the incredibly cushy and armrest-free leathery couch in gate A3. Almost perfect, except the snoring guy on the other couch in the terminal, who sounded like he was having nightmares about inhaling feathers and all sorts of dusty shizz.

After my sporadically disturbed, but refreshing four hours, I got to thinking about the Watson Returning Fellows Conference that I was returning from. Before it all started, I don’t think I was expecting to feel such instant camaraderie with forty-eight other strangers. However, the conference was probably the most wonderful thing since coming home (except for getting into Mount Sinai, of course!). Our mutual taking to each other was just so natural and astonishing. These are exactly the types of people that I sought out when I was living abroad this year: cool, amazing, impressive, fantastically interesting, friendly, eloquent, driven, talented, lovely, engaging— absolute gems! This weekend was beyond anything that I could have anticipated.

I just want to document here on TOADD exactly the way I feel about the people that I met at the conference.

From the Watson trading cards deck, in the order as found in my purse:

Juan Navarrete- Talented cartoonist, social chameleon, quick on the uptake, Juan is one of the most politically aware individuals I have met this year, or ever.

Wren Elhai- Absolutely talented and musically gifted. I think he has a kind of special bravery for tackling the monstrous task of learning Tuvan throat singing and a rainbow of other musical styles in the short time that his Watson allowed. Super awesome presentation. Taiwan power!

Matthew Mohorovich- Quiet and observant, I could tell that Matt was an individual who has a lot going on under the hood. (Why didn’t he showcase his skillz at the conference?) Rosy tells me he is an awesome pianist, I can’t wait to see him perform in NY sometime!

Jennifer McKenzie- A kind-hearted girl for whom I have high hopes for improving women’s justice around the world! Totally unafraid of saying “vagina” multiple times in everyday conversation.

Brendan McCollam- Humble, brilliant, exciting, and a fantastic speaker. Brother from another [nerdy] mother. Ridiculously badass presentation, which I hope will be given again at Caltech sometime soon! (Trust me when I say it’s the ideal audience.)

Rebecca Littman- Brave, and blessed with a gift in connecting to people in a way that I could only hope to achieve one day as a future physician. Admirable and lovely, even though she’s from my rival high school.

Jessica Lockard- A talented visual artist with a supernatural sense for the aesthetic. Total New Yorker and awesome dresser. Nice glasses.

Steven Holleran- Also gifted in connecting with the people around him. Admirable work ethic and superb writer/director/cinematographer/toomanyhats. Makes me want to stop eating fish.

Ryan Shields- Brave, wonderful, and flippin’ awesome on the dance floor. I hope that he will get to join me in medical school soon soon soon, because we need more physicians that share his sensibility and compassion.

Magdalena Wiezbicka- Affable, musical, knows French AND Chinese?! Fellow fan of NAFNAF. Brave and has the scars to prove it.

Will Hunt- I have to admit that I didn’t really understand his project when I read the list last-last March, but this is probably one of the most fascinating topics ever. Good story teller. Where’d he learn to dance like that? (Note to Will: please remember that MIT is only an inferior Institute of Technology with an underground tunnels system.)

Linn Davis- Excellent writer and raconteur. Met him in Capetown. My favorite memory of Linn is eating other people’s leftovers with him at a falafel joint. He, too, cannot let a perfectly good half-eaten plate go to waste.

Teal Greyhavens- A guy who knows world-class cinema, appreciates world-class cinema, and makes world-class cinema. Exciting movie trailer for a presentation. Knows Tilda Swinton. Also knows how to cut a rug.

Joseph Bornstein- Also a wonderful presenter. Fascinating project, sensible, smart, and easy to talk to. I regret not talking to him more before the end of the conference!

Oscar Baez- Linguistic magician! Every time I read about dying languages, I am thankful for people like him, who care and devote their energy to saving a world treasure from disappearing.

Alex Gibson- Admirable, brave, thoughtful, eloquent, another social chameleon and super roommate in India. Taught me more about how to approach the Watson and my life perspective in 8 days in Kerala than my first months by myself!

Gemina Garland Lewis- A free spirit who loves both whales and whalers. Adventurous and unafraid. Absolutely dangerous on the dance floor, and makes it look easy.

Daniel Gessner- I wish I could have all the science lectures for the rest of my life by this guy. Totally brilliant and humorous. Everyone in the US needs to see his presentation. Will rock the MCAT and medical school with flying colors. Watch out, world.

Adam Forbes- Engaging. Intelligent. Seedy. Showed us how to wipe up at the toilet, Indian-style. Liability on the dance floor. Someone call the fab-u-lance.

Nikolas Sharrow Groves- A brilliant, happy fellow engineer with the heart and compassion to study an emotionally difficult topic. Dances like an earthquake hit– totally awesome.

Dane Roth- Rabbit is a supra-friendly guy with the guts to do graffiti in a communist country! Speaks better Chinese than me. Break dances like, wo!

Valeria Rojas Infantas- Independent, strong, socially aware, and shares my dislike for Machi Victor of  Hospital Nueva Imperial in Chile. Knows how to get a good deal on cute clothes. Peruvian firecracker and dancing machine.

Ana Maria Rey Martinez- Lovely, insightful, stylish, clever and driven. A well-spoken young woman with the talent and wherewithal to transcend borders/walls/fortresses and gain access to amazing places hidden from the rest of the world.

Héctor Pascual Álvarez- Really wonderful and unique presentation, showcasing both the best of his Watson and the best of his amazing skills in theater. Does not have syphilis.

Graciela Paz Arias- Hot motorcycle babe with delicious dance floor skillz. Shares my love for Che, motos and Latin America. Her project makes me totally jealous!

Cedric Bien- Wonderful and wise, with a project topic that I had considered for myself. He definitely did a way better job than I would have! I also have the added pleasure of being Cedric’s schoolmate for the next four years—yaaaay!!

Sean Noonan- Extremely passionate and enthusiastic cyclist, who probably rode more distance on bike this year than the sum of the rest of the fellows in their whole lives, put together. Strongest. legs. ever.

Morgann Ross- GFFL (that’s girl-friend-for-life, in case you didn’t know). Brave, sassy, smart and always sharply dressed. Shares my love for Tim Gunn, male fashion diva and role model for constructive criticism. Morgann and I plan to take NYC clubs by storm for the next four years. Yesssssss.

Sanna Ronkainen- I had the distinct pleasure of being Sanna’s fb buddy quite early on. Strong, brave, wise, thoughtful, caring, wonderful everything! When I originally heard that she maybe wouldn’t make it to the conference, I was sad, but I’m really happy that that turned out to be a big fat lie. I am proud to be a fellow future physician with Sanna!

Catherine Branch- I think all of us would agree that dear Catherine is hands down, no-contest the most inspirational Watson this year, or ever in the history of Watson fellows. If I ever have a fraction of the courage and grace that she has, I will die a happy woman. Super sweet, humble about her amazing achievements in life and music, and a wonderful roommate and musician. Also, she has an awesome complexion.

Emilie DeWulf- Bright, bubbly, happy, wild and carefree. Fantastic presentation, complete with adorable home movie that made me misty. Makes me regret living in a horsetown and ignoring horses for all of my young adult life. Excellent taste in boots.

Zachary Devlin Foltz- Brave, admirable, adventurous and kind. Has a gift for getting into eccentric situations without being too eccentric, himself. (As someone said, “Out of all of us, he’s one of the few normal ones!”). Owner of many colorfully striped fútbol jerseys.

Jesse Kremenak- Intelligent, friendly, funny storyteller. Survived a blowfish poisoning episode by applying acupuncture to himself when he was 13 years old. Yes, you just read that.

Cecilia Sibony- Passionate and wise, she brought a salient and hopeful perspective to a decades-old frightening conflict between Jews and Muslims. I admire her open mind and drive to bring peace to a world that needs it badly. Also, if asked, she can draw a graph of the female orgasm with respect to time.

Gregory Hart- A kind and talented future environmental scientist with an appreciation for the needs of a developing world, and the desire to find solutions.

Lucas Strickland- His presentation also makes me want to quit eating fish. He and his wife make a cute, fishin’ couple.

Michael Stout- Delightful presentation. Frisbee guy is funny, outgoing, enthusiastic and articulate. Superb dance skillz.

Mary Childs- Sister in fashion obsession and funny stories about sleazy French men. Bonded over choosing a dress (“too revealing… too daytime… perfect!”) and the rest was history. I was considering surgery to have myself bonded to her permanently. Fortunately, she’s moving to New York.

Mackensie Yore- Fb buddies from the beginning, and NYC running buddies of the future! It was such a pleasure to finally meet her at the Conference. Industrious, introspective, kind, wise and passionate, Mackensie is exactly the kind of doctor I want to be when I grow up.

Brian Hockaday- Brian is what would happen if two of my best guy friends, Ray and Michael, mated and had a baby in Texas. So funny, so smart, so easy to be around! I’m crazay jealous of his Korean fashion show experience and NPR hookups. I love Brian and his wildly expressive dance moves. He called me a Golden Girl and meant it.

Erik Anderson- Easy to talk to, insightful, observant, intelligent. Another Watson fellow I admire for an emotional difficult project. 

Rushyan Yen- Ridiculously prolific and supremely talented visual artist. We expect big things from her (no pressure, dude!). Humble, philanthropic, wicked fun, awesome dancer. I wish I had her for a twin sister.

Chris Tolles- Funny, mature, grounded, friendly, resourceful, creative, talented. He and his wife Tory (or is it Tori?) are so cute on the dance floor. I plan to invade their private space in Boston.

Andy Krauss- Extremely capable, determined, and good at making complicated diagrams in powerpoint. He is 1000x the MechE I will ever hope to be. Writing a book about New England breweries, which is like 300 double plus points.

Kit Martin- Ant man! Holy smokes, this guy opened up the magical world of ants to us in a mere ten minutes. At the end of his presentation, we all wanted to do his project instead of our own. Definitely will become one of the best natural scientists of our time.

Megan Colnar- Another courageous Fellow pursuing a difficult topic. Can probably understand Chilean spanish better than the rest of us gringos. Makes love, not war.

John Zirkle- Awesome presentation in which we all stood and sang in a foreign language at the top of our lungs– liberating! Musically talented social chameleon.

Rachel Gross- Calm, collected, low-key, but hard-core. Gave a wonderful presentation with no images, yet full of imagery! Super tour guide for UPS campus. 

And then the non-Fellows:

Cleveland- A wonderful director. I wish I could have Cleveland for my boss. Then he would just give me $28,000 and let me do whatever I wanted. Hates Jay-Z, but I won’t hold it against him.

Jimmy Kolker- Super impressive man! Has the most amazing string of jobs ever, but is incredibly humble about it and manages to come off as the friendliest guy next door. Did you guys see him on the dance floor tearing it up?

Kris- Conference coordinator/AV nerd/DJ extraordinaire. Social chameleon. Easy going. Anti-facebook. (whyyy?) FB not necessary, since he will be my neighbor in Spanish Harlem, so yay! 

Jennifer- Answered all my crazy emails alllll yearrrrrr. Organized and freaking awesome at keeping track of a billion little things. Slammin’ post-baby figure (you go girl!). 

Kamilah- Also answered all my crazy emails! Also an organization goddess. Awesome dresses. Easy to talk to. Dance-a-liscious. 

Rosy- It is a distinct pleasure to share the title of Caltech alum, Gnome Club member, and Watson alum with Rosy. She is straight to the point, no nonsense! At times, we fear her, but we always love her. (Ahem, I told some of you this story already, but: I recall on my nerve-wracking Watson interview that she asked me to come up with five words to describe myself. I could only come up with three, and two of them were “fun” and “funny.” Maybe Rosy left that part out of her interview notes, thus allowing me to get the Watson. I’ll never know for sure, but thank heaven for small mercies!)

A final note:I hope you liked reading this entry. To those whom I specifically addressed, I hope that you weren’t offended by my over-simplifications of your personalities and achievements. I simply wished to quickly document each of you so that I can go back to it years from now and recall what a wonderful bunch of folks you guys are. Everyone I met was so incredible and fantastic. Thanks for a memorable weekend; I hardly stopped smiling the entire time! I hope we can make an effort to reunite in  a few years– all fifty of us, plus our magnificent directors and coordinators. Until then…

 
I remain, 

Your Dodo.