Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Dr. J Michael Bishop Extra Credit Assignment

I waited to post this so that I could share my Jekyll and Hyde essay with you.  It is a model of the authentic type of response that I'd like you to produce.

So, here's what I'm thinking.  We went and listened to a Nobel Prize winner share some information about cancer and his work.  As I was sitting there, trying, once again, to understand  the src gene, I was thinking about the idea that there was much more going on for all of us last night than just trying to make sense of difficult content.

From our discussion today, I have gathered that some of you are in awe of having been in the same room with a great scientific mind.  That is exciting!  I hope you were inspired to strive for that level of greatness in whichever field to which you choose to dedicate your life.  It doesn't have to be science.

But, let's be honest.  While some of us were able to glean bits of understanding, most of Dr. Bishop's presentation was incredibly sophisticated. And some of us, we hold no real fascination for the mutation of genes, Let's take it a step further: for some of you, pieces of the presentation may have triggered a mild case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that is the result of the summer reading and from which you might just have been beginning to heal, I get that.  Still, I'd like you to consider the whole experience, from the moment you surrendered your vehicle to the valet to the scarfing down of much water and cheese (did you see that table at the end of the night?) to the long sit of the presentation and write a personal essay that explores and evaluates the many facets of an experience like the one we had the opportunity to attend last night.

Real writing.  Real thinking. That is what I am looking for.

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