December 27, 2020 // LISTEN HERE
Meet Edwin Owolo.
Edwin is a man with many identities. Which made my conversation with him an absolute pleasure. I know him best as my baseball teammate full of energy, and less so as the pre-med student studying neurobiology, and even less so as a musician. And we dive into all that and more during our conversation.
He's currently a first year med-school student at Duke University, and before that he spent his gap year after graduating from Harvard (Cum Laude) in the spring of 2019 as a technician in the emergency department at Stamford Hospital in Connecticut during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic... something he never could have seen coming before signing up for the role.
In college, being a student-athlete on the pre-med track at Harvard taught him how to get work done. Running from class, to practice, to lab, and then to late dinner before studying was his routine for four years - so he can teach us a thing or two about how to be productive and efficient with your time. In our conversation we talk about setting goals and using daily lists, study habits, and using the Pomodoro Method for work. But more importantly than the tips he shares are the tactics he uses to take care of himself and sustain an almost incomprehensible schedule. There are no secrets, he just takes care of the basics: sleep, nutrition, and exercise.
While what he does is impressive, his mental framework to understand his work and how he learns from those experiences is even more insightful in my opinion. He learned from his father the mantra, "Life is a Battle!" - a frequent rallying cry from Mr. Owolo in the grandstands at Harvard Baseball games. Edwin believes that if you don't have battles in your life, then you aren't pushing yourself. With this understanding, Edwin feels comfortable striving for goals where he might fail because he recognizes that it is in these situations where he learns and grows the most. But that's not the only way he understands his dad's sage wisdom, he also finds himself repeating his dad's words in times when he catches himself feeling sorry for himself or on the cusp of giving up. Especially on the path to becoming a doctor, nobody said it was going to be easy!
In addition to this perspective, Edwin's time spent so close to death as an emergency department technician taught him to have immense gratitude for every day he wakes up. That's why waking up is the first item on his daily to-do list. Because of my fascination with Stoic philosophy and the concept of memento mori, I probe him on his thoughts on death and how that informs his outlook on life... just a heads up.
On top of it all, his identity as a biracial man with immigrant parents (from Nigeria and the Philippines) gives him a particularly unique lens on life - one that certainly contrasts my privileged Irish-American identity. I'm so grateful for Edwin diving into the topic of race and racism he's experienced in predominantly and historically white spaces like a college baseball team, Harvard College, and medical school. While his understanding is informed from his racial identity, his insights into how to best respond can be applied to anybody with an identity that is discriminated against. He emphasizes the importance of valuing and staying true to yourself, recognizing what is in you domain of control, and being sure to give back to those who look up to you (like he did by founding the Crimson Medical Mentorship Program as an undergrad). Advice we should all take to heart.
Listen for tips. Listen for perspective. Listen for wisdom.
I hope you enjoy.
SHOW NOTES
Music
[3:15] How he ended up playing the National Anthem on the violin at Fenway Park and lessons learned from the craft of music
- Link to performance at Fenway Park here
- Link to performance on Senior Day for Harvard Baseball here
- Link to Shinigami Boys SoundCloud
Medicine
[13:53] Why he chose the difficult path of medicine plus thoughts on the craft of healthcare as a blend of compassion and hard science
[18:37] How he used his dad's mantra, "Life is a Battle," plus a vision of the future on those days that are particularly difficult
Productivity
[20:16] How he sets goals (at the beginning of new chapters in his life) and uses daily lists to stay on track (starts with checking off that he woke up!)
[25:56] Efficiency, high yield vs low yield information, Pomodoro Method for studying, Pomodoro Method Spotify playlist
[30:08] Self care routine to maintain his schedule
Life Lessons
[37:16] Dad's favorite sayings and outlook on life - "If you don't have battles in your life, then I don't think you're pushing yourself"
- "Life is a Battle!"
- Never Say Die!"
[41:38] Deep dive in thoughts on death - lessons learned from being so close to those who don't make it in the emergency room and how that makes Edwin grateful for every day
[45:59] His experience as a black man in historically and predominantly white spaces and controlling what is in his control
Rapid Fire [51:37]
- Morning routine
- starts at 6 or 6:30 and preps him for up to two and a half hours of studying (on Anke)
- Prerak Juthani YouTube
- New mindset he's adopted recently
- setting intention of improving, learning, and growing everyday
- TED Talk he would like to...
- Attend: leadership and influencing other (Dr. Joe Doty, Duke School of Medicine Leadership Development Program)
- importance of self-awareness for emotional intelligence
- Give: music creative process (feel the vibe!)
- Favorite quote
- "Life is a Battle!"
- "life would be boring if there wasn't adversity [...] if you're not putting yourself in positions to possibly fail, you're not livin'"
Rapid Fire [51:37]
- Morning routine
- New mindset he's adopted recently
- TED Talk he would like to attend and give...
- Favorite quote
Edwin is a man with many identities. Which made my conversation with him an absolute pleasure. I know him best as my baseball teammate full of energy, and less so as the pre-med student studying neurobiology, and even less so as a musician. And we dive into all that and more during our conversation.
He's currently a first year med-school student at Duke University, and before that he spent his gap year after graduating from Harvard (Cum Laude) in the spring of 2019 as a technician in the emergency department at Stamford Hospital in Connecticut during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic... something he never could have seen coming before signing up for the role.
In college, being a student-athlete on the pre-med track at Harvard taught him how to get work done. Running from class, to practice, to lab, and then to late dinner before studying was his routine for four years - so he can teach us a thing or two about how to be productive and efficient with your time. In our conversation we talk about setting goals and using daily lists, study habits, and using the Pomodoro Method for work. But more importantly than the tips he shares are the tactics he uses to take care of himself and sustain an almost incomprehensible schedule. There are no secrets, he just takes care of the basics: sleep, nutrition, and exercise.
While what he does is impressive, his mental framework to understand his work and how he learns from those experiences is even more insightful in my opinion. He learned from his father the mantra, "Life is a Battle!" - a frequent rallying cry from Mr. Owolo in the grandstands at Harvard Baseball games. Edwin believes that if you don't have battles in your life, then you aren't pushing yourself. With this understanding, Edwin feels comfortable striving for goals where he might fail because he recognizes that it is in these situations where he learns and grows the most. But that's not the only way he understands his dad's sage wisdom, he also finds himself repeating his dad's words in times when he catches himself feeling sorry for himself or on the cusp of giving up. Especially on the path to becoming a doctor, nobody said it was going to be easy!
In addition to this perspective, Edwin's time spent so close to death as an emergency department technician taught him to have immense gratitude for every day he wakes up. That's why waking up is the first item on his daily to-do list. Because of my fascination with Stoic philosophy and the concept of memento mori, I probe him on his thoughts on death and how that informs his outlook on life... just a heads up.
On top of it all, his identity as a biracial man with immigrant parents (from Nigeria and the Philippines) gives him a particularly unique lens on life - one that certainly contrasts my privileged Irish-American identity. I'm so grateful for Edwin diving into the topic of race and racism he's experienced in predominantly and historically white spaces like a college baseball team, Harvard College, and medical school. While his understanding is informed from his racial identity, his insights into how to best respond can be applied to anybody with an identity that is discriminated against. He emphasizes the importance of valuing and staying true to yourself, recognizing what is in you domain of control, and being sure to give back to those who look up to you (like he did by founding the Crimson Medical Mentorship Program as an undergrad). Advice we should all take to heart.
Listen for tips. Listen for perspective. Listen for wisdom.
I hope you enjoy.
SHOW NOTES
Music
[3:15] How he ended up playing the National Anthem on the violin at Fenway Park and lessons learned from the craft of music
- Link to performance at Fenway Park here
- Link to performance on Senior Day for Harvard Baseball here
- Link to Shinigami Boys SoundCloud
Medicine
[13:53] Why he chose the difficult path of medicine plus thoughts on the craft of healthcare as a blend of compassion and hard science
[18:37] How he used his dad's mantra, "Life is a Battle," plus a vision of the future on those days that are particularly difficult
Productivity
[20:16] How he sets goals (at the beginning of new chapters in his life) and uses daily lists to stay on track (starts with checking off that he woke up!)
[25:56] Efficiency, high yield vs low yield information, Pomodoro Method for studying, Pomodoro Method Spotify playlist
[30:08] Self care routine to maintain his schedule
Life Lessons
[37:16] Dad's favorite sayings and outlook on life - "If you don't have battles in your life, then I don't think you're pushing yourself"
- "Life is a Battle!"
- Never Say Die!"
[41:38] Deep dive in thoughts on death - lessons learned from being so close to those who don't make it in the emergency room and how that makes Edwin grateful for every day
[45:59] His experience as a black man in historically and predominantly white spaces and controlling what is in his control
Rapid Fire [51:37]
- Morning routine
- starts at 6 or 6:30 and preps him for up to two and a half hours of studying (on Anke)
- Prerak Juthani YouTube
- New mindset he's adopted recently
- setting intention of improving, learning, and growing everyday
- TED Talk he would like to...
- Attend: leadership and influencing other (Dr. Joe Doty, Duke School of Medicine Leadership Development Program)
- importance of self-awareness for emotional intelligence
- Give: music creative process (feel the vibe!)
- Favorite quote
- "Life is a Battle!"
- "life would be boring if there wasn't adversity [...] if you're not putting yourself in positions to possibly fail, you're not livin'"
Rapid Fire [51:37]
- Morning routine
- New mindset he's adopted recently
- TED Talk he would like to attend and give...
- Favorite quote