Fall 2012
There is nothing more human than getting sick. In a culture obsessed with independence and vitality, we don’t like to talk about it much, but facing down a serious illness can offer profound opportunities for transformation. In this issue, we’ll meet patients and caregivers who have faced the hardest questions—and found unexpected joy in the face of suffering.
Everything Else Fell AwaySick since childhood, music teacher Sungrai Sohn desperately needed a new liver. Here’s the amazing tale of how a loving relative and innovative surgery gave him back his life.
The Kingdom of the SickHow can a healthy person understand what it’s like to be seriously ill? And how can the sick make sense of this life-changing experience? Narrative medicine uses the power of storytelling to navigate the gulf between the sick and the well.
Puppy LoveSometimes the best comfort comes on four legs. Linda Koebner MA ’12 and her therapy dog Spirit dispense their own kind of medicine in a Bronx hospital.
Right NowOne of many problems facing teenagers with cancer: they can’t kiss. Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg '72, an expert on blood and marrow transplants, talks about how sick teens cope with rough times.
Full Immersion
Can believing in miracles help cure an illness? Dr. Clarion Johnson '72 takes sick pilgrims to a healing shrine, and finds himself transformed.“Homelessness is an experience little understood by any person who has never been homeless,” writes Meghan Rogushka ’12 in the opening paragraph of Down and Out: Stories from Grand Central Station, her cumulative work of a year of ethnographic observation and research in Grand Central Terminal. She continues: “The way one must navigate the world, the places one is ‘allowed’ to go, and how resources are acquired, are just a few of the challenges that must be considered by homeless people.” We profiled Meghan and her work in our Fall 2012 issue and now invite you to follow her on a tour of the iconic station, filmed by Trevor Wallace ’13.
Vera Wang '71 addresses Class of 2013; photos, videos, media clips available on Commencement site