When I walk into the Anesthesia workroom I immediately feel a sense of adventure and purpose. The shining white floors and the pungent aroma of sanitation fill me with a reverence for this place of healing. The phone's incessant ringing and the ceaseless intercom announcements of, "HCA's to room five", and "Turnover in room nine" are constant reminders of the urgent ambiance only found in a hospital. People will be coming here to the third floor and their lives will hang by a meticulous balance as doctors go to work. Two men in scrubs and white lab coats walk through the room on their way no doubt to some impending task only they can accomplish, and my thoughts begin to wander. What kind of lives are their patients living? What kind of people are they? If somehow these doctors were to err in their judgment, who would miss them? Whom would they be leaving behind?
I scan the walls filled with medical supplies. Shelves upon shelves filled with injection needles, syringes, airway tubes, and gauze pads pass underneath my glance. As I go to work collecting the needed materials, I consider my part in this balance. True, I may play a very limited role in the life and death struggle that takes place here on this floor, but that is only for now. For now all my concern is in the workroom. I stock the carts with what the trained professionals will use to preserve the quality and quantity of life. My role is small now, but someday it will be great. Someday I will be the one to preserve life, by God’s will of course. Without Him I can do nothing, but with Him who can tell the potential I might have in people’s lives? What kinds of lives will my patients have? If I err in my judgment, whom will they be leaving behind? Do I truly want to have these unanswered questions with me every hour of everyday? I consider this question as I finish my work on one cart and set to work on the next. In a word, yes. I feel it is my duty and destiny to do so, and I must live to meet it. A smile spreads over my face as I consider what the future holds. Many years still remain before it will be my responsibility, but for now, I will continue to play my small part.
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5 comments:
I really enjoyed this post. The use of questions is very powerful. I loved how you tied the gospel into it, and truly recognize that it's the Lord's will, and not only the accomplished doctors.
If you were to use this for your main essay, you could focus on how you started as a small part of this life changing process, but because of hard work, training, and help from the Lord great and miraculous things come to pass.
I could really see you pondering and questioning the future as you worked in the loading room.
Great job!!!
I think you did a great job of showing how this specific place and time led you to other reflections about your future. Those reflections were poignant and touching and powerful.
I would have liked to see more specific sensory details about the place. I had a hard time picturing the place that led you to these powerful reflections.
Great use of questions--they force the reader to think about these questions themselves. Great job!
I can relate to the sense of responsibility you express in the face of your future and chosen field. Are you pre-med? The reflections are good, but I would like to know more about the particulars. Find a place to expand this description.
Your cart must be pushed Colin. Its incredible that I've shared some of those same thoughts. I agree that your use of questions is great. You might also want to consider giving short powerful answers to them to guide your ideas, goals, and determination. Maybe describe the patients and what specifically it is that makes you ask about their backgrounds. Is it their eyes? Maybe the worn hands of the elderly? Good job buddy
Great job Collin. I enjoyed reading your piece. You are very discriptive and I felt as I were there at the hospital. I even got that uneasy feeling I get when I am there and smell that particular smell. I like how you followed your thoughts to the recognition of your responsibilities. Just a sugguestion, maybe ease into the transition of discribing to your thought process a little better. Great job though! :)
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