Patrick is a young medical resident who is “passionate” about his work. After his sister died of leukemia during his senior year in college, Patrick became a Christian in order “to find meaning in life,” and he now feels deep ties to Christianity. Patrick has long been concerned with issues of social injustice, and he sees becoming a doctor as his way of helping the poor. After completing his formal medical training, he wants to establish his own orphanage in Bolivia, where he has worked with children before. Patrick’s very strict moral and ethical standards for himself and his work are visible. He makes decisions according to his understandings of right and wrong, and understandings based on his Christian beliefs. Because of these beliefs, Patrick refers patients to his colleagues if there is an issue that is in conflict with his values. He does not care if he gets a “bad rap” or a “bad mark” as a resident.
Mentorship at a Distance (*Sensitive)
Noah is an environmental virologist and an Albert Schweitzer Fellow. For the duration of his Schweitzer fellowship, Noah has worked on a music program at a school that serves students with “extreme” behaviors. When his father died of a heart attack, during Noah’s adolescence, Noah was unable to deal with the loss in a healthy way. He became dependent on drugs, and frequently became “side-tracked” during his college years. In part because his father was a helpful and important role model for him, he tries to provide healthy and positive mentorship for the students at the school. Noah is deeply spiritual, and describes two guiding principles: (1) to love God “as you understand it,” and (2) to love one another. His beliefs are his greatest source of motivation. Noah also explains how Albert Schweitzer, the humanitarian in whose honor the Schweitzer Fellowship was established, has served as an important mentor and role model for him. Noah believes that we can follow Schweitzer’s example in order to “change the world for good.”
The Hardy Hedgehog
Eliza is an occupational therapist at a hospital as well as at a state-run mental health facility. As a medical practitioner, she feels responsible to patients’ physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Eliza has been able to bridge her interest in nature, animals, and art with her medical knowledge and skills, and in the state mental health facility, she brings plants and animals to the patients. Eliza believes that when considering the human spirit, we should give “equal weight” to the body and mind. Connecting these beliefs with her formal training has become her personal and professional mission. She works with young students, many of whom are mentally unstable and some of whom are suicidal, and she brings the natural world and animals to these children in order to work on issues of safety, trust, and caring. One of Eliza’s patients, a young boy with a history of violence who also struggled with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), gained a sense of motivation and purpose through his encounter with a hedgehog that Eliza had brought into the center. The experience with the hedgehog turned out to be a major turning point for him.
Finding the Thread
Sheila is a twenty-seven-year-old working actress. Sheila has been involved with the theater since she was eight, and she says she would never consider leaving the profession. Acting has helped her work through depression and through some other major challenges. She even had what she described as a “spiritual experience” during a summer spent with the Willamstown Theater Festival. Sheila explains that she had had recurring dreams throughout her whole life “with these very particular sort of mountains in them.” As she performed the lead in Princess Turandot that summer in Williamstown, she looked out over the Berkshire Mountains and realized that they were the mountains she had been seeing in her dreams. Sheila explained that it felt like she “had lost the thread and found it again.”
Interest in Religion
Adam is a 30-year-old man residing in the United Kingdom with his wife and young child while completing his postgraduate work in psychology. Adam is Muslim and is committed to his religion. At times, life in the United Kingdom clashes with his religious beliefs. Adam describes a time when he tried to lease a car, only to find out that the built in interest he was required to pay by the bank was at odds with his belief that “riba” is impermissible. Adam describes having to decide between the benefits of having an amenity such as a car at his and his family’s disposal and his loyalty to his religious beliefs.