With so many brilliant, accomplished, and passionate people speaking at the BSURF meetings, all of them were amazing and insightful; however, Dr. Lefkowitz’s talk “A Tale of Two Callings” was especially enjoyable to listen to. In particular, it was extremely insightful to hear about his transition into research despite his steadfast desire to pursue medicine. Although several factors facilitated his involvement in research such as the Vietnam War, his insight was quite noteworthy regarding research.
A key takeaway from his talk was the notion of finding mentors. I personally already view mentors as invaluable people to be able to exchange ideas and learn new practical perspectives from, as they have already walked down an avenue that you are trying to at least somewhat follow. Their ability to expound a viewpoint or understanding that you didn’t even consider truly widens your perspective and aligns your efforts and mindsets more directly with your goals and aspirations. He delineated the necessity of finding and choosing your mentors alongside having grit, persistence, and practicing diligently. Risk must be taken and accepting risk can lead to some incredible discoveries.
A comical aspect of the talk was the doctor’s discussing 70% dark chocolate. After showing a graph, obviously due to correlation and not causation, countries with a higher average of chocolate consumption typically had higher quantities of Noble Prizes awarded to them.
