A High School/Back to College Experience

“It’s what you learn after you know it all that really counts.” Coach John Wooden

HSIP stands for Health Science Immersion Program. And I’ve been immersed in HSIP since the summer of 2019. HSIP is set up to give high school students interested in health sciences a head start into college, a career, and even life.

For me, it all started with a letter I received from founder David Rayudu. Last year, to my total shock, I learned David founded the non-profit when he was only 19 years old. When I was nineteen, I was recovering from a major academic setback, getting used to a warehouse job, and attempting (unsuccessfully) to avoid copious dread regarding an ultimate and way too fast approaching encounter with organic chemistry; more about that later.

The letter asked if I’d consider being a presenter representing dentistry and sharing about my journey to and through a career as a GP dentist. I wrote a column about the letter and the organization I began to research. And I got the job.

These days, I’m even a board member, and President David is a solid quarter of a century of age.

Back in 2019, my first HSIP session pretty much convinced me that my participation was meant to be. The location was my undergrad alma mater, California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA), and the lecture venue was my former Organic Chemistry lecture classroom.

Back in 1968 (a tragic year nationally and personally with the loss of MLK, RFK, and my brother, Jay), when Chemistry Chair Dr. Lloyd Ferguson walked into the Organic Chemistry lecture classroom, and handful of students walked out, I experienced a chill that had nothing to do with the SoCal weather. I didn’t have time as a luxury, but it didn’t take long for me to grasp the evacuees’ motivation. First year at CSULA, I was beyond confident about the ease with which I could handle the classroom stuff. Even better, I was on my own, no one was looking over my shoulder. And you know what happens when you assume…and refuse to back it up?

Dr. Ferguson grew up in Oakland, California where his early interest in Chemistry led him to build a chemistry lab at home as a kid; there, he made insect repellants and stain removers he sold to neighbors. He graduated high school at age 16 and then worked in construction and as a railway porter to earn money to pay for college at the University of California, Berkeley. Ferguson later became the first African American to earn a Chemistry PhD at Berkeley. Dr. Ferguson would spend 20 years as Chemistry department Chair at Howard University where he established the first Chemistry doctoral program at any Black college. He moved to CSULA in 1965 and soon became the Chemistry Chair. During his career, Dr. Ferguson authored seven Chemistry text books and over one hundred papers. Dr. Ferguson passed away November 30, 2011 at age 93.

Of course, by the end of my first day in Organic Chemistry, I learned Dr. Ferguson was the department chairman and someone who’d have an impact on my future (when I registered for the class, STAFF was listed as Instructor.) For prospective medical and dental students, Organic Chemistry separated the men from the boys and the women from the girls. As Dr. Ferguson scanned the room, he announced the most likely outcome for the quarter: “One A, 2 Bs, and good luck to the rest of you.” After having received a disastrous 2.13 GPA in Q1 of Fall 1965, all I did was study and work. Period. Everything else was a distraction, I needed to choose my actions wisely. I memorized the Krebs Cycle. I had zero social life. I was like a monk. I got the A.

When recounting my college experience with HSIP students yesterday, it was another opportunity to share my journey and some of my numerous mistakes, hopefully magically transformed into teaching opportunities. And as I viewed my screen and the students, I already knew they were far ahead of where I was at their age. When I was where they are now, I knew it all; but they are twenty years ahead of learning what really counts. I was in private practice for 20 years before I benefitted from a program like HSIP: that’s when I learned about systems that helped me understand time management, leadership, teamwork, goals, and vision, and finding joy in the journey.

I urged students to look for a mentor; someone who is where they think they might want to be. I also suggested they ask to “shadow” the mentor at work. I urged the students to ask questions, especially if doing so seemed scary. I reminded them they were learning all about time management, adding HSIP to their high school work (they were taking a twelve-week program on consecutive 8-5 Saturdays, while working in small groups over a project they would ultimately present.) The students were gaining a grasp of leadership and teamwork, using Meyers-Briggs’ profile to share information in a way best received by the person receiving it.

I shared that setbacks are opportunities to re-address with added experience and more knowledge. And if there weren’t setbacks, perfectionism or overthinking were likely to stand in the way of taking the risks that accessed action and growth. I didn’t know it at the time, but my 2.13 GPA disaster led to a conversation with my dad that changed my life, and my understanding of what work and commitment are. I reminded students that I made it into dental school, memorized the entire Krebs Cycle and five facts about every county in California, but missed the whole point of four years of college: finding the joy in being young and learning about and interacting with all kinds of different people, ideally leading to achieving important goals I had chosen.

And I got the A from Dr. Ferguson, and even his Letter of Recommendation to all five dental schools to which I applied and was successfully accepted. And it didn’t mean I wasn’t scared asking for the letter. I had so little interaction with the professor, he had to look up my name to find my grade. When he found my name, he looked me squarely in the eye with a smile I’d never experienced from him before and shared, “Of course, good work Jack, and best of luck to you.” What an opportunity I had missed; I gained a letter and encouragement but I’d maybe missed the opportunity of gaining a mentor of a lifetime, for the lack of a question. Another lesson shared, another lesson reviewed. Small kindnesses you extend to others, maybe just a few words and a smile, can become impactful and unforgettable…even after nearly 60 years.