The same boiling water that softens the potatoes hardens the eggs
Yesterday, my yoga teacher said “the same boiling water that softens the potatoes hardens the eggs.” WHOA! This kicked me right in the potatoes! In my experience (and you can probably tell from following my career journey this far) I thought I could have it all. I thought happiness and satisfaction was something I had to reach, to achieve. I thought that I could keep changing my experience and my surroundings to fit my picture-perfect life. What I’ve learned, instead, is that all of the external noise going on around me cannot and will not change who I am inside. I have a set of values, fundamental structures, and steadfast goals that keep me moving. I’ve always been who I am and every day I’m becoming that person more and more. It’s the wobble that keeps me upright.
My story so far has been full of ups and downs, big leaps, and tiny baby steps. I’ve taken you from middle school to high school, to college, to graduate school, and to my first few jobs. Today, the story finally reaches my career. I was the program coordinator for five Forensic Science Training Program (FSTP) classes at the NYC OCME and met 3,000 death investigators from around the country. At the time, my husband was in the middle of his PhD program at Columbia and we lived in a 400sq foot student housing apartment in Manhattan. We weren’t exactly settled but couldn’t exactly move anywhere else either. He got a little stipend as a student and I picked up a part time job at the Bronx Zoo as a necropsy technician. But we weren’t leading a glamorous New York life. I started calling my contacts and looking for advice.
Soon enough, one of the FSTP alum called me back with an on-call as needed position at the Orange County NY Medical Examiner! The office was recently converted from a coroner system and the new office was about an hour or two from the city. The investigators took me through a few months of training and, by winter, I was released with my very own shifts. At this office, we could sign up for 12hrs shifts and needed to respond within the hour when the case fell under medical examiner jurisdiction. And for those of you who don’t know, medical examiner jurisdiction is different all over the country but generally occurs when the death is unexpected, a result of homicide, suicide, or accident, pediatric, a ward of the state, and/or when identification cannot be established. I traveled all over the place – highways, campsites, the airport, the river, houses, hospitals, parks, people’s yards. I saw all kinds of people from all kinds of backgrounds with so many different causes of death. The forensic pathologists would determine the cause of death with an autopsy or external inspection, toxicology results, medical records, and after reviewing my photographs and case report. They would determine the manner of death – homicide, suicide, accident, natural, undetermined – based on the circumstances presented. At this office, autopsies took place at the local hospital while the offices were located at a nearby emergency management facility and 911 call center. There was one chief investigator, a few pathologists, a handful of part timers and autopsy technicians. The work was interesting, and the people were kind, grounded, and unique. I felt like I fit in and truly loved the work I was doing in the community. Next week, I move to a full time position and my family starts growing!
