The big picture

After psyching myself up properly by walking past my professor's office to the water fountain, I returned to get my last exam from my ochem professor. After initial pleasantries and a discussion about my dad who used to teach in that department he asked why I was taking the class. The question may have something to do with my questionable performance in his class. I told him all about my plans for medical school and told him I was there doing all my prereqs in one year. He then informed that I had made a huge mistake and that you should never take more than 2 science classes, maybe 3 at a time. Not wanting to appear like a complete idiot I informed him that I was getting A's in all of my other classes and that ochem was my only struggle. You could see his demeanor change towards me. Instead of being a slacker I was a good student who struggled with this subject. He even became quite encouraging telling me that he could tell from my exams that I knew more than the score represented. He even joked about how he was not very good at writing exams (a point I did not argue). He was convinced that I would do well on the comprehensive final and I should not give up. Although it would would not be like my other classes I could still make it out with an adequate score.

My mom would always say that everybody has a story and once you know somebody's story it helps you tolerate all the little things that annoy or disappoint you. I remember one roommate during my undergrad who really bugged me. One day we were just sitting there talking and he began to tell me all about his life and his goals. It was amazing to me how after I knew his story somehow most of his annoying habits didn't bother me because I saw them in context of the bigger picture of his life. My professor could have easily asked, "why aren't you doing well?" but instead he asked a wider scope question, "Why are you taking this class?" I appreciate that (even though I still wish I had taken it from Dr. Kurtz instead).