If you’re a college student like me, you may often find yourself wondering – do I have what it takes to be an adult? One day when I graduate and enter the workforce, will I be able to make it in the “real world,” the place I’ve spent years in school preparing for? It’s a daunting thought. Career choices, job interviews, work ethics and public relations all have to be mastered in order to do well. For a student of pre-medicine, it also means placement exams, building work experience, grad school applications, and school interviews. How do I know I have the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed?
Education is one of the primary tools. As the years pass from high school to college education, the demands for success begins to have lifelong repercussions. For this reason, it is extremely important for students to take advantage of every learning opportunity that comes your way and to apply yourself thoroughly to all subject matter, especially if you aspire for medical school. For example, college English courses exist to prepare students for professional discourse in their future careers. How can a professional succeed without the ability to communicate their ideas effectively through literary tools?
A few weeks ago, I read an article by community college professor John Pekins, “A Community College Professor Reflects On First-Year Composition.” I recommend it strongly to pre-medical students. In John Pekins’ article, “What is College-Level Writing?,” he discusses the importance for college composition courses to challenge students appropriately, proposedly through engaging writing with reading. I found myself agreeing with every claim presented in his reflections, especially as a college freshman just beginning to learn the connections between high school and college level work. I have done well in my classes thus far due to the fact that in my high school education I was adequately challenged to both read and write, just as Pekins describes (Pekins). Not only has it prepared me well for the demands of college writing, but I feel confident in my abilities to succeed in any workforce in which I may be required to write, from here into my adult career as a medical professional. I agree with Pekins because I have personally seen the value in being able to connect what I read with my own ideas and communicate what I am thinking in a descriptive, coherent and concise manner. It has been crucial to my academic and success.
This website exists to explain the idea that reading and writing are the keys to success in adult discourse communities. I will focus specifically on how this applies to the medical profession. Hopefully, you will find it useful to understanding this theory of college education and will be able to apply it to your own discourse community as well.
Pre-Health Student Blog 