April 2001
Who is Eric Strong?
he New York Times recently interviewed Man of the Year Eric Strong, and we asked him to talk a little about his life:
Well let's see...
I was born Eric Norrett Strong in the town of Abington, PA. I spent my childhood and youth in the small Philadelphian suburb Southampton, where
I lived with my parents, my older brother Dave, and younger sister Emily. My early years weren't anything too exciting. I walked to our neighborhood
elementary school every morning, spent 8 hours learning my fractions and state capitals, and when that afternoon bell rang, ran home to go ride my
bike or play Summer Games or Jumpman Jr. on my beautiful Commodore 64. That's pretty much what I did every weekday for 6 years. Looking back, I can't
believe I didn't get bored of all that, but I guess little kids don't really mind.
When 7th grade rolled around, I don't think I was quite ready for the change. Everyone always talks about the transition from junior high to high school,
and from high school to college. I found however, that entering Klinger Junior High took much more of an adjustment. For the first time in 6 years I was
stuck in classes filled with people I didn't know, and didn't really care to know either. I ran track, and hated it. I played the alto saxophone in the jazz band,
and hated it. Every other day I had to sit through Mrs. Vegara's reading class of meatheads and stoners, and God, how I hated that. In all, junior high was
a pretty miserable experience. Luckily, I met some great people who shared my misery, and together we managed to somehow survive those two painful years. |
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During the morning of my first day of high school, all 484 of the brand new freshman filed into the auditorium for an orientation. At the conclusion of
the meeting, the vice-principal made an announcemnt that everyone would proceed to their assigned homerooms, with the exception of the following five
students who had been assigned to a special homeroom specifically for the school's academic team - and my name was read as one of those "gifted" five to
be set aside from everyone else. The howls and laughter were plain awful. Can you imagine a worse introduction to high school than that? Fortunately,
everything got better from there.
My parents somehow convinced me to follow my brother and join the school's marching band. Although our director was tyrannical at his best, and we
were made to feel like peons at a military boot camp, once again there were some great people there amongst whom our despair could be shared. Combined
with the wonderful friends I made in the Chorale singing group, they all helped to make high school a surprisingly pleasant experience.
The other aspects of high school were mostly great. Despite my initial bitterness towards the academic team, we went to the national championship
tournament four years in a row. Our math team was county champions. Through the piano and singing with various school choruses, my appreciation
and interest in music increased enormously. Lastly, I fell in love with the sport of volleyball, and although I've never been particularly good, it continues
to serve as an excellent means of recreation.
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Unfortunately, those four years couldn't last forever, and soon after I fufilled my thirteen year obligation to the Pennsylvania State Board of Education, I shipped
off to begin another adventure - MIT. I'm not sure I was a big fan of college when I initially arrived. I barely knew a soul there, and I got more homework our
first week than I did during the entire final year of high school. But it all turned out okay. By the end of
the first couple of months, I had joined about fifteen different clubs, developed close bonds with my dormmates, and realized that I, Eric Strong, was actually
probably not the smartest person on the planet (not even close, in fact).
Like every experience, college changes one to some degree. I feel like I became more serious and more laid back at the same time. More serious in that I
became an "issues-person" - a pro-revolutionary, save the spotted-owl, anti-meat fanatic (well maybe fanatic is an exaggeration...). More laid back in that
once one sees that he is indeed not at the top of the barrell, it becomes much easier to just say "oh whatever". My friends want to go out on the town, but I have
a big test - oh whatever. I got a C+ on that thermodynamics test - oh whatever. There's an X-files marathon on TV, but I should be working on my medical school
applications - oh whatever. Looking back, that probably was not the most constructive attitude to have in college, but at a place like MIT, it may be the only
way to escape with your sanity intact. |
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During this time, and extending into medical school, part of my life was dominated by a "summer job" at the Summer Institute for the Gifted, or SIG. I call this
a "summer job" instead of a summer job, because employment with SIG dominates one's life for those six summer weeks, and even beyond. SIG is basically an
overnight academic camp/school for kids who are either overachievers, or whose parents are spending the summer in Europe and didn't want to take them
along. I've spent a total of just 18 weeks working at SIG camps, but it feels like I've had several years worth of experiences and met a lifetime's worth of friends
and other acquaintences. So what did I do there? Basically, I was a counselor, residential assistent, tutor, teacher, supervisor of evening activities and
weekend trips, and all-around buddy to about 1200 rebelious, rambunctious, hormonally-charged teenagers. For this, I was paid about $1.72 per
hour (before taxes). But in a bizarre way, I'd say it was worth it...almost.
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These preceeding 22 years have culminated into where I am now - the New York University School of Medicine. What is medical school like?
I suppose it starts off like college - lectures, conferences, tests. There is one drastic difference, at least for me. Although in medical scohol, one could
probably continue to say "oh whatever" about 85% of the time and still get by (as long as it was a carefully selected 85%), I've decided that it's probably not in
my best interest, or my future patients' best interest, to continue to do so. Sadly, this has resulted in less free time, less fun, and more work. I guess that's
medicine though, so I'd better get used to it.
There have been some exciting things about medical school. First, I've met the most amazing young woman in the entire world. Second,
together we have discovered many new things that life has to offer (swing dancing, backpacking, in-line skating). We may not have had as much time as we would
have liked to enjoy those, but we still have our fourth year ahead to make use of. Third, Shirley and I went on an exciting, depressing,
interesting, fun, disappointing, adventurous, and educational journey together to Papua New Guinea.
You probably need to visit the country in person to understand that description. |
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So what does the future hold for me? Who can really say for sure? Of course, I have some ambitions, some things I'd like to accopmlish during my life. I
suppose a Nobel might be nice. Or maybe CEO of my own biotech company. But, I'm content just to sit back and see what comes my way...for the moment
at least...
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