By Alex Mold

I have worked two jobs I have loved. One of my jobs is working for Fordham University EMS, FUEMS, which I am an EMT and a Crew Chief. As a crew chief I am responsible for leading the crew and maintaining the safety of the crew and the patient. I have had an amazing time working for this organization and have had some amazing experiences like the time I helped deliver a baby. As a collegiate EMS organization, pregnancy and delivery are something that I have not experienced much, but this day stood out as the time we helped deliver a baby. I have also been responsible for saving a life. During the course of some call-heavy nights, I have had patients who have required additional resources to take care of them, following protocol of a trauma code. These calls are scary, as the patient’s life is immediately at risk and the decisions I make could

determine if the person lives and maintains a good quality of life. The scariest moment happened when a person received massive cranial trauma and did not realize the trauma. Though this moment was terrifying, later he thanked me for taking care of him during this time. Being thanked for this act was something I had not had before and it felt good to be thanked in person rather than only hoping I did well.

The other job I work at Fordham is as a research assistant for Dr. Wei researching the role of MyoGEF on breast cancer development. Since I have worked on this project, I have been published twice and have been responsible for teaching three undergrads how to work in the lab. In my work with MyoGEF, I have had to teach people how to engage in lab protocols. It has been a mixed blessing as I have to teach people how to engage in lab material but they sometimes do not understand. This understanding can become annoying if I have covered the same procedure multiple times and the questions they ask become annoying, especially when asking why we are doing this specific step in a procedure. At the same times they ask these questions, I see a part of me in them. They experience the same eagerness towards learning the procedures as when I first started in the same lab. And their questioning of me has helped me stay on track when I do those procedures. The most memorable time a trainee helped me happened when I ran a western blot and I forgotten the purpose of one of the binding proteins. When he asked me, I had to look through my notes and familiarize myself with the procedure. In this moment, I realized that my trainee had learned what I had taught him and had corrected one of my mistakes.