Manir sits for a brief interview outside. He discusses his interest in different medical fields and what he is learning about them in his Concentration. He then describes his excitement to returning to school and volunteering in-person, and all the things waiting for him in the coming year.
Would you please just begin with your name, pronouns, Concentration, and if you could have any sci-fi technology, what kind of gadget would you want?
My name is Manir. I'm in the Medical Rotations Concentration, and my pronouns are he/him/his.
If I had access to any sci-fi technology, I think I would want to time travel. I always enjoyed different time travel movies, and how they each have their own take on how the science would work. It would be amazing to experience different cultures in different time periods. I think I’d want to visit either Ancient Greece or Egypt, just because of their technological marvels like the pyramids. It would be so cool to get insight into how they were able to build the pyramids with such precision and their limited math and science knowledge.
Can you tell me a little bit about your Concentration?
I picked the Medical Rotations Concentration because I’ve known for a while I wanted to go into the medical field. I recently got a job as a lifeguard, and I also recently started as an EMT. I’ve had basic overviews of medicine in the past, but I was drawn to this because even the program described how many different fields of medicine we’d cover. I needed that because I'm very indecisive. I wanted to see everything the medical field has to offer. So we’ve been able to touch on cardiology. We've been doing dissections. We’ve examined all these different fields and types of medicine I never knew anything about. It’s been good to help steer me toward the right path with medicine.
What paths appeal most to you?
That’s a tough question. I mentioned I’m indecisive. I've been eliminating things I don't want to do more than figuring out what seems best. For instance, I don’t want to go into gastroenterology or oncology. I am a little interested in fields like anesthesiology. Our teacher, Dr. Kaplan, had a good quote about that. She said, “Surgeons try to kill you and the anesthesiologists have to keep you alive.” We obviously don't have the time to go deep into certain fields, but they've done a really good job at keeping it engaging, while still touching on all the different types of medicine.
Are your friends back home as interested in medicine as you?
I have a few friends that are interested in medicine back home. I'm in a club called the Medical Minds Club, which was started by one of my friends, and now I'm on the elected board. It’s somewhat similar to what we do here. We try to give other students insight into medicine.
What are you looking forward to this coming academic year?
I'm enrolled in a series of AP classes this year, but I'm particularly looking forward to AP Bio. I took Honors Bio last year, and I just really love learning about the body. The different systems that all worked together are just fascinating. People talk about how technology's innovating, but I feel like humans, our bodies are the most complicated pieces of technology you'll ever have. These computers and other technologies are all trying to mimic how the human body would do something.
My school has some other elective classes that I'm looking forward to as well. AP Psychology, Medical Anatomy, Physiology. So if I want to pursue medicine, that will all be helpful to give me a head start before I even get into college.
Are you excited for anything this coming year outside of your academics?
I mentioned I started as an EMT a couple of months ago, and I was able to go on my first call a couple of weeks ago. I loved the experience of going out on a call and just helping someone. I'm very excited that in the next few months, I'll be able to get more experience and go on many different types of calls. I enjoyed being a lifeguard and gaining the knowledge to potentially save someone.
While I haven't had to use that knowledge yet, thank God, I think it's cool to have this skill set. I enjoy creative activities and games. I'm on the high school soccer team. I've been able to do some virtual volunteering this year, but I’m excited to be back in person. I spend a fair share of time watching Netflix, playing video games, and stuff like that too. But I enjoy doing things that help my community.
What were some of your favorite memories from the summer?
I met so many new people, and within three or four days, we became family. I became really close with my living group. It's different from friends back home...here, these new people are the ones you spend the entire day with. I'm gonna miss hanging out with them. They live across the country and when I go back, there's a good chance we're never going to see each other again. But being here on a college campus is a nice break from the typical high school routine. They give you a lot of freedom here. I'm very independent and I love going to classes, hanging out with my friends here, and finding activities at night. I think it's a really good schedule, and I just love the environment that EXPLO has created here.
Will Walawender