My Love of Medicine

My Love of Medicine
The not yet insulated home was a good ten degrees hotter than outside. A shirt was wrapped around my forehead to help keep the sweat out of my eyes. My extra pair of socks was already drenched, and there were still four hours of work to go. A day's worth of powder blended with my sweat into a paste, covering a good portion of my body. While I was holding the board against the ceiling with one hand and grabbing a handful of nails with the other, my partner threw a lit cigarette against my back, knowing it would stick. It was always funnier when it stuck.
Those three years of drywall hanging were preparing me for life in more ways than I could have possibly known at the time. I learned how to take pride in my work. My crew was the best in town, and only my best effort would do. I learned self-discipline. It didn't matter if it was 4 pm on Friday or 8 pm on Sunday; we worked if the job needed to be done. I learned to work well with others. My job, and sometimes my ...