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Less Physics Mo Problems

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Why am I writing this personal entry? Well, it is not an attempt to gain any sympathy. It attempts to show what is possible if a clear intention and goal serve the learner's needs.  In May of 2022 just near the end of another fantastic school year, I do not remember what happened. But, I was unable to finish the school year and was unable to teach the following year.  Why? On May 21st, 2022, I fell down a flight of 16 stairs (luckily carpeted) from the 2nd to 1st story of our home.  I was found at the bottom of the stairs. I was found foaming at the mouth. This would lead to a 2-month hospital stay which included an induced coma because my seizures would not stop, several rounds of lumbar punctures, and relearning basic physical movements like something as simple as being able to roll in the hospital bed. Simply put, when I was admitted to the hospital, I was diagnosed as being “critically ill.” Please take a moment and read those words: critically ill. They are not terms...
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The Ripple Effect of Teaching: Beyond the Traditional Classroom

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The Ripple Effect of Teachers

Last week was a big one to face the facts of my recent medical condition. For those who do not know, in mid-2022 I was diagnosed with seronegative autoimmune encephalitis. On Wednesday of last week, a pair of Launch Medical and Health Care Strand students presented a personal narrative about my experience. Their presentation was a personal narrative combining a personal interview and research on the disease.  Although the slideshow doesn’t do their presentation justice, it will give you a general overview of the narrative. They covered many aspects of the condition from the factual to the personal narrative, and the lessons learned. They did a wonderful job of capturing a human story rather than listing a clinical definition.


At the end of the week, Brookfield Central High School had our annual career day. I was lucky enough to have the ICU neurologist Dr. Gregory Rozanzky who handled my care while I was in the intensive care unit attend and present to over 70 students. Topics ranged from what the career looks like daily, the educational requirements, the most difficult to the most unusual cases, and a brief explanation of my case. An important aspect for those interested in the field is that Dr. Rozansky went through his educational journey.  Below is a clip of his session.



An important takeaway I got from his talk was that you may not know what you want your profession to be until you get to experience it. The most surprising was that he enjoyed the teaching aspect of his position the most. The fact that every student, a future physician, he teaches will affect at least 5 other lives. That ripple effect a good teacher can have on the lives around them will only keep spreading. I love that Dr. Rozansky points out that this applies to so many careers, not just his but to anyone who at some point has to pass along a set of skills. It is what my great student teachers did for me. I hope that someday, I will be allowed to do the same. In my new role, I can have an impact on staff which can be applied in their classrooms.



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