Jean Devlin inspired me. Who inspired you?

[icnmgrjill]

http://www.ic-network.com/images/JeanDevlin.jpg

Last week, I received a letter telling me that my favorite college instructor, Jean Devlin, had passed away from cancer. It was a blow. Jean was my primary Pharmacology instructor at UCSB. As a woman, she was a role model inspiring women to pursue advanced degrees that had been previously dominated by men. But, as a friend, she was kind, caring and thoughtful for her students.

Jean was known for finding great jobs for her graduates and she set me up with some amazing interviews, including research jobs at Stanford, Syntex, Allergan and others. While I chose not to pursue animal research (that's another story), her efforts and encouragement were probably the most important factor in my starting the IC Network. If I hadn't had the degree... and had someone making the mysteries of the human body and how it heals fascinating... I just might never have gone this route.

So... I just wanted to take a moment to honor the lovely Jean McDonald Devlin. She was one of those angels that helped the IC Network come into existence. Here's a link to the program she founded (and I graduated from) at UCSB: http://www.lifesci.ucsb.edu/mcdb/programs/undergraduate/majors/pharmacology/pharmacology.html

And speaking of angels, I thought I'd take a moment to acknowledge the others I remember fondly:

Mrs. Smith - 2nd grade, Sequoia School - who made spelling big words fun! She left the next year to go teach in Watts.

Mr. Thrift - 9th grade, Rincon Valley Jr. High - who was the first to make nature fun and took us all to Yosemite and who, patiently, stopped the bus to let me use the bathroom several times!! He didn't let anyone laugh at me either! Oh, and his wife was hysterical when she chased the bears away in the middle of the night by yelling "shoo! shoo!"

Mr. Blankenship - 10th grade, Montgomery High School - who made chemistry fun, who patiently helped me understand how to calculate moles and molecular weights by tutoring me for a week! He could tell whoppingly funny jokes! He was the first one to introduce neurostimulation to me. I was a volunteer in his class when he brought a unit out, put it on my arm, which then proceeded to flop all around the desktop. Creepy but fun!

Mr. Marcott - 12th grade, Montgomery High School - whose Advanced Biology class revealed the majesty and miracles of the body and how it works. Each week, we studied a new animal. My lab partner, Anita Shah, is now a great pediatrician.

Mr. Gyving - 12th grade, Montgomery High School - for making math bearable and for teaching us all to respect our elders. I loved the way he made gentle fun of the "popular" students... giving them a bit of a reality check into the lives of those of us who weren't class officers. I'll never forget the pop quiz the Wednesday before Thanksgiving... which he titled "Thanksgyving!" We all groaned!

Mr. Courtney Anderson - Sophomore in College, Santa Rosa Jr. College - who taught an awesome Organic Chemistry class! I never knew that making dyes would be so fun.

Ms. Jean Devlin - Junior & Senior Years, UC Santa Barbara - who taught me responsibility and compassion in the research lab.

Undoubtedly there are more... but it just feels good to say their names and think of them fondly yet again!

Now the most important question of all... what teachers inspired you?? Why???

Jill O.

[Sarojini]

One of my greatest inspirations was my Ph.D. advisor, Dr. William McBride, at UCLA. He was an amazing scientist -- smart as a whip, internationally known -- and he expected no less of his students. However, he managed to have high expectations while being kind and wonderful; this is rare thing in science now, as many advisors now think being mean and cruel is the way to motivate.

Bill did all he could to get you to that "place" where you know you've arrived -- while working for him I gave talks at international meetings, sometimes for audiences of 500, and I won a very prestigious award for graduate student of the year from the Radiation Research Society. While working for him, I felt great. I felt smart and strong and capable, and that led to more success, which led to feeling even better.

Bill was also wonderful because he instilled humility as well as pride -- at that point in his career, all he had to do was boss us students around, but he would come into the lab and actually do benchwork. I guess you have to be a scientist to understand exactly how amazing this is. I remember many times working late, or having to come in very early, and Bill would be there too, with two coffees in hand (yea, it was before I knew I had IC ;) ). He would come in and see someone who had a lot of work and offer to help; he would come right off whatever pedestal you had him on and let YOU boss HIM around because it was YOUR experiment he was helping with.

He taught me in the beginning, too, that science is lonely and that it will make you cry as often as laugh. He was right...I cried out of frustration many times while writing my Ph.D. dissertation, and many times since.

He taught me so much -- how to write an article, how to culture cells, and later, how to grow big tomatoes on my balcony at my apartment in L.A. :) He always treated me like a colleague and friend, and never, every made me feel low or bad about myself.

He set the bar for supervisors so high that I have yet to find one that is as good -- so I still call Bill from time to time, when I need an understanding ear.

Another wonderful mentor is Kathy Mason at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. I met her through contacts in the radiation research field, and she taught me how to be tough but still be a woman in a man's world. She is living proof that a female scientist can make it. She also taught me how to lead a group -- under her hand I was able to start an organization for young, early-career scientists within our professional society and then chair it for three years. Since I began looking for my first recruits, the organization has made major changes in how the society is run, and even though I am not that involved in it anymore, I still look at it with pride.

I am sure there are more, but I've taken up enough space for now...

[stacey79]

There are many teachers, but two that come to mind right away.

First is my ninth grade English teacher, Ms. Seibold. She was tough and drilled grammar into us like crazy. Now that I'm working as a professional writer, those lessons come in handy. Best of all, she's been great at sending encouraging notes at milestones, like my high school graduation and even when she found out things in my college career.

The other is the head of magazine sequence at Ball State University, Dr. David Sumner. He continues to be a mentor of mine and has been greatly encouraging in my writing career. He's pointed me in directions of jobs and opportunities that I greatly appreciate. And so very nice about it! :) I like nice people.

I also have a few Sunday School teachers who have made a difference in my life, too. I feel blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life!

[ICNDonna]

There's a very kind young lady who is an inspiration to hundreds, if not thousands, of IC patients throughout the world. When she was diagnosed with IC and was no longer able to work, instead of giving up, she dedicated her life to helping others with IC. Because of her physical limitations at that time, she chose the internet and began with a single page IC support siste.

She has touched all of our lives in so many ways. She encourages, informs, sometimes cajoles, and is always available to us.

This young lady's name is Jill Osborne and we all owe her a lot.

Warm hugs to you, Jill,

Donna

[tigger_gal]

I do agree... if it wasn' for Jill I wouldn't have met many of my friends...

However, the 3 people that inspire me the most are my mom, my daughter and Leslie.
my mom is my best friend, Ican share anything with her,and even if she don't understan or approve of what I do she supports me.
My daughter Ashley, is the best child anyone could ever wish to have. She is loving, kind, and, very strong, I envoy her strength. She never gives up and she has had many struggles in life, far to many for a child to bare, but she has learned a great deal from them.
Leslie really has been there for me and has been my rock many of times..

I am greatful for all of my friends and family.. in one way or another I have been inspird by all of them and I thank you for making me a better person.

[ICNDonna]

I've been thinking of some of the women who have inspired me and I have come up with several:

An elderly lady who lived across the street from us when I was a child. She was in her 90's and remembered so much from the early days in Nebraska. She was a real historian and shared her love of history of the midwest with us in a way that made it come alive.

My cousin, Flo, who is having a very difficult time with multiple myeloma, yet keeps her faith and sends me cheerful emails nearly every day.

An English teacher I had in high school. She was the first teacher who actually treated me as an adult and it made me feel very grown up.

Donna

[Katie14]

I think the person who inspired me the most was a very special Sweedish nurse that I worked with in my first nursing job, Margaret. I can't imagine that anyone would have had a bad thing to say about her and I never heard her say a negative thing about anyone else. She was an excellent nurse with a wonderful bedside manner and was a great role model for the many new nurses coming in to the profession.

BTW, I went to Montgomery High School too :)

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your favorite instructor.

[kdfurgi]

hmmmmm......
when i first looked at this post i stopped to think and tons of people who have inspired me over the years and it took a while to make my list small enough to actually write (well type) down with out it taking too much space. here is the list i was able to come up with:

first my mom, she has been my stone that never lets me give up. my father died when i was 6 yrs old very suddenly, mom was 27, and had 3 kids to raise one that was 16 and her stepson. she has faltered and had to start over several times since then, but she always helps us to find a way to work through anything(including a 16 yr old girl that got pregnant).

next would be a counsler from Jr. High, Mrs. Townsend, she was amazing and helped me to understand myself and why bad things happen. she was a saint in my book, we talked every friday for 2 yrs, she finally convinced me to talk to my mom about the horrible day in august so long before and realize that i did tell my father bye that last time...i still talk to her fairly often and she has helped with many delimas, including talking about my symptoms with my hubby so i could talk to a dr. so i could find all of you wonderful people.

lastly my high school home-ec teacher,Mrs. Lloyd, who helped me through the rough times after i had my wonderful 6 yr old, get over the boy that helped me to get my little angel, and how to get into a place that i would be able to trust the male population in general, so that i was able to find my husband and get my youngest little devil child, (guess i had to get one of each, lol) i go see her often and she receives a picture of my kids after each session with our local studio. not to mention that she is still over home-ec, helping many young parents to learn how to care for their children and teaching others that it is better to wait but that she will be their to guide them if they need her.

i come from a horribly small town of less than 2000 people, way to many of them and others have touched my life for me to name them all. however these 3 have been there when i needed them and are still there when i need to talk, just want to sit silently, or need a good cry. there are many people here that inspire me that would name but is too long a list. this was a wonderful idea Jill, i think i will go give mom a call, i think its been about an hour since we talked, but i want to tell her that i love her and see how her days is going, maybe ill tell her about this post too.....