Scott Santibanez introduced his series on 5 Characteristics You Probably Didn't Know to Look for in a Mentor with the below request for advice and a consideration of Someone Who Differs From Your Preconceived Notions. Dear Dr. S, I am an incoming medical/public health student. I recently read one of your papers. From your faculty profile, I see you've pursued a career that integrates many of the things that I want to do! I'd love to meet to explore potential opportunities and discuss any career advice you think would … [Read more...] about Characteristics of a Good Mentor: A Doer, Life Experience
self-knowledge
Writing a Christian Personal Statement: Part 2
My essay for admission to medical school was brutally honest. I talked about my low GPA, my relationship with my parents, my obsession with the problem of suffering, quotes from my personal journal, and how it was all driven by a radical faith in Jesus Christ (and images in my head of suffering children). It was my attempt at being really, really honest and was the product of many careful hours of meticulous revision. Note: Click here for Writing a Christian Personal Statement: Part 1. It was also really, really … [Read more...] about Writing a Christian Personal Statement: Part 2
Writing a Christian Personal Statement
Writing any application for a school can be difficult, and writing the Personal Statement can become the most challenging part of it. By the time you are preparing to submit an application, most of its elements are already fixed: your GPA, your MCAT or GRE scores, the activities you did (or didn't do). The Personal Statement, however, is an open field of possibilities in self expression, and that sense of ambiguity lends itself to great liberty and/or great anxiety. Admittedly, the title is somewhat misleading. A … [Read more...] about Writing a Christian Personal Statement
Best Books on Knowing Yourself?
Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid Wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. —John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 1, Section 1, Paragraph 1 I've been wrestling with some personal decisions lately, so I decided to read a book that has been gathering dust on my "To Read" shelf: M. Blaine Smith's Knowing God's Will: Finding Guidance for Personal Decisions. It has been excellent, but it also got me to thinking: in ESN, … [Read more...] about Best Books on Knowing Yourself?