Sport & Multiculturalism: An Excursion to Australia
If you ask my family, I'm probably the very last person in the world you would expect to take a course about sport. I never played sports, and I don't follow most sports (they're really above my understanding). Early on, I think even I questioned why I would sign up for such a course. But really, the course wasn't about understanding the nuances of football or basketball or lacrosse or any other of the hundreds of sports that exist. It was about understanding how humans, people, use sports to express themselves and interact with others. The fact is that sport often forms part of the core identity of a people, and therefore is important to the development of the self. This aspect of the course appealed to my interests strongly.
Why is this important? I ask myself that in every course, just to check my own understanding. As a neuropsychology student preparing to begin medical school, most of what I'm advised to study is science. Concrete facts. Supportable truths. There isn't a lot of room for opinion and philosophy. This is, however, one of the more stimulating aspects of a premedical focus. For example, what is the self? How is it developed? What is it dependent upon? These questions are really too complex to be answered, at least not simply. The best I've been able to do so far is to answer them in parts, and this course addresses one of those parts. Sport is a natural progression of an innate need that exists within all of us to prove ourselves against others. It contains elements of ritual, elements that reach an almost spiritual or religious level. And, perhaps most importantly, they allow us to connect to others.
Studying this material, as well as experiencing first-hand the profound impact of sport in another cultural setting apart from my own, allowed me to realize that there are many ways to reach people. One of the most important roles a physician has is to foster a connection with patients, understanding them as whole, dynamic individuals. My hope is that understanding even a few facets of what it is that makes up the self, the core identity, will help me to become a better physician. Not only that, it will help me to become a better person in general, more sensitive to those around me and more able to reach out and support them.
Why is this important? I ask myself that in every course, just to check my own understanding. As a neuropsychology student preparing to begin medical school, most of what I'm advised to study is science. Concrete facts. Supportable truths. There isn't a lot of room for opinion and philosophy. This is, however, one of the more stimulating aspects of a premedical focus. For example, what is the self? How is it developed? What is it dependent upon? These questions are really too complex to be answered, at least not simply. The best I've been able to do so far is to answer them in parts, and this course addresses one of those parts. Sport is a natural progression of an innate need that exists within all of us to prove ourselves against others. It contains elements of ritual, elements that reach an almost spiritual or religious level. And, perhaps most importantly, they allow us to connect to others.
Studying this material, as well as experiencing first-hand the profound impact of sport in another cultural setting apart from my own, allowed me to realize that there are many ways to reach people. One of the most important roles a physician has is to foster a connection with patients, understanding them as whole, dynamic individuals. My hope is that understanding even a few facets of what it is that makes up the self, the core identity, will help me to become a better physician. Not only that, it will help me to become a better person in general, more sensitive to those around me and more able to reach out and support them.