Life is rarely an unhindered path forward. In fact, obstacles might be necessary for us to really fight for what we will become. Dr. Levi-Montalcini did not let her father’s wishes, Italian and Nazi Fascism, or World War II stop her from studying how neurons grow. Her studies earned her the Noble Prize for Medicine. How have you dealt with the obstacles in your life?

I find it interesting that the video was so focused on the science that it really seemed to downplay the tremendous obstacles that Dr. Levi-Montalcini confronted. Beginning with her own father to NOT wanting her to do to university and just settle down and be a wife and mother, but she was personally touched by the death of her governess and determined to study science and medicine. Then she faced the turmoil of World War II and racism because her family was Jewish and she had to move away and study in secret. She faced challenge after challenge and would not let it deter her from her pursuit of science and medicine. 

Comparatively… well, there is no comparison. I had small scholarships and loans that enabled me to go to college and later funded my own education working for a local phone company. My working class folks understood the importance of education and college and would have preferred that I would have been an engineering or at least business major instead of my Religious Studies/Biblical Studies majors. And they were concerned when I left my phone company job to become a teacher. It’s an interesting mind experiment, had I stayed with the phone company I could have retired from that job nine years ago, in 2014 with 35-years. The only problem with that thought is that I left the phone company in 1994 because they were going through a downsizing phase and I, with my 15-years, was among the lowest seniority for anyone in my job title in all of Orange County. There’s a pretty good chance that had I tried to hold on, they might have just laid me off without the severance that I ended up getting (6-months full pay). So, I’ve made large job moves more frequently than most public school educators whom I’ve known.  

And it’s true that obstacles or challenges can lead one to really work out what are the important elements in ones life that are worth fighting for. If things are just given then one may never understand or gain any depth of understanding about what is important. I have no idea what chapter I am in the process of transitioning towards. There have been so many. I appreciate the opportunity and possibility of being able to continue this rambling journey called Life. I acknowledge that there are far fewer years ahead of me than what I’ve enjoyed, but I’m hoping that this next chapter is another refocus and redefinition of what my life might become and not a withdrawal or diminishing of what I have been. Let’s go!

Source: Rita Levi-Montalcini and the secret of neuronal growth by Open Mind, https://youtu.be/kZje3RapLxw