{"id":688,"date":"2021-11-09T14:18:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-09T19:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/magazine-2021\/?p=688"},"modified":"2024-08-12T14:20:25","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T18:20:25","slug":"genuine-curiosity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/magazine-2021\/2021\/11\/genuine-curiosity\/","title":{"rendered":"Genuine Curiosity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I have aspired\nto be a psychiatrist since middle school. My grandfather, Dr. Robert Milling,\nwas a renowned psychiatrist in Columbia who grew up in Greenwood during the\nGreat Depression. Pop valued family most importantly and would do anything to\nhelp others. I have fond memories of hiking with him during annual Christmas\nfamily vacations in Hendersonville, North Carolina, exploring the unique flora\nand fauna of the mountains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What really\nstruck me from a young age was that Pop\u2019s breadth of knowledge encompassed more\nthan just medicine. He was a naturalist, an observer and a historian. He was a\nlifelong learner, one who pursued knowledge for the passion of discovery. I learned\nfrom him that genuine curiosity will lead to more fulfillment than focusing on\none thing and one thing only. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pop treated his\npatients like family. He made house calls and developed long-term relationships\nto help them on their path to recovery. \u201cWhat is this?\u201d he often asked,\npointing something out before launching into an educational explanation. He was\na man full of love and empathy for others, which has inspired me to be more\nlike him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I learned that\nachieving dreams and goals requires perseverance and a constant willingness to\nimprove. I chose The Citadel because it is the best school in South Carolina.\nAs matriculation neared, I was excited to see what the first year would be\nlike. I knew that my experience would be different from most because of my arm,\nbut still similar in many ways. I was born with only one arm and grew up\nreluctant at times to try new activities. I eventually got past my inhibition.\nOn the way to becoming an Eagle Scout, I rappelled off sheer cliffs in New\nMexico, repaired cars and homes, and became an athlete; I learned that you have\nto have self-worth to be of value to others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Christian Najjar, who graduated in May, is currently studying at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Credit: Cameron Pollack<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

To prepare for\nfuture challenges, I chose to attend a military college. The Citadel has a\nreputation for being \u201cthe road less traveled\u201d because of its disciplined\nenvironment and the physical and mental demands of the fourth-class system. As\na freshman, I was held to the same standards as everyone else. I knew that my\nexperience would most likely be different from anyone else\u2019s, but I knew that I\nhad a duty to fulfill, and no special accommodations should be made. After\nparade practices, we performed pushups in front of the Kilo Company letter with\nour rifles resting on our hands. To conduct the manual of arms, I wore a\nprosthetic to parades, but it was not made to bear the weight required for\npushups. When it came time to push, I put my prosthetic arm behind my back and\ndid pushups with one hand. I remember thinking during those long-count pushups\nhow hard it was and wondering if I should try to do something else and wait it\nout. But I knew that wasn\u2019t the answer because I would be making it easier on\nmyself. As I continued, the cadre watched in amazement and asked my classmates\nwhy they didn\u2019t perform one-handed pushups. Everyone has personal situations they\ndeal with, and when you step in the first day as a knob, you cannot allow those\nissues to impede your success. What I took away from knob year was the ability\nto prioritize and constantly strive for success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the\nbeginning, I knew balancing academics and military duties would be important. I\nhad mentors who stressed the importance of being prepared and working hard. My\nfirst day at The Citadel was much like that of others, fearful of what was to\ncome and anticipating the dreaded Challenge Week. I remember getting helpful\nadvice from one of my mentors before I arrived at The Citadel:  \u201cListen to what they say, not how they say\nit.\u201d His advice made my knob year much easier, allowing me to take the cadre at\nface value and concentrate on academics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After declaring\na biology major as a knob, I also started a German minor. Cross-cultural\ncompetency is valuable to me because of the importance of communication and\nunderstanding those who come from different backgrounds. I eventually declared\nGerman as a second major because I wanted to expand my ability to understand\nand communicate with others of a different culture. After my freshman year, I\nspent the summer in Germany attending a language school where I met people from\nall backgrounds\u2014students, working professionals moving to Germany and older\nadults seeking to learn a new language. I met a French archeologist preparing\nto start working in Germany. She told me about France and the differences\nthere. During my second summer abroad in Germany, I presented research at a\nGerman-French conference in Lyon, France. My previous experiences made it\neasier for me to communicate with the French speakers who knew little English.\nI believe in integrating with the community. While I was in Germany, I joined\nRupertia, a German fraternity, where I have made lifelong friends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My passion for\nthe pursuit of knowledge has led me on adventures. I traveled with the support\nof the Office of Study Abroad. Being a Star of the West Summer Scholar enabled\nme to learn German in Mannheim, Germany, during the summer of 2018. Afterward,\nI wanted to have more experiences abroad that would prepare me to become a\nphysician. In the summer of 2019, I conducted virus research at Heidelberg\nUniversity. This experience highlighted the importance of cross-cultural\ncommunication because I was working with German and French researchers. I was\nprepared because at The Citadel I learned how to communicate with people\ndifferent from me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the\nsupport of faculty, I have had experiences that prepared me for my goal to\nbecome a physician. As this magazine goes to press, I will be starting on\nanother academic adventure in England.  I\nhave been accepted to the University of Cambridge to pursue a master\u2019s degree\nin population health science, which focuses on analysis of health data trends\nand policy in order to investigate different determinants of health in a\npopulation. After I complete my master\u2019s degree, I will attend the University\nof South Carolina School of Medicine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My goal is to become a physician and provide the best possible care for my patients. Following my grandfather\u2019s example, I believe in developing long-term relationships with others to help them succeed in their goals, whether they be professional or personal. The Citadel has prepared me for new and challenging situations, whatever they may be. Pop passed away my freshman year before I was recognized as a member of the Corps of Cadets. He was so proud that I chose to attend The Citadel, and I am sure that he is ecstatic that I am one step closer to realizing my dream to become a physician and a leader in my community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Christian Najjar spent his childhood in Beaufort before moving to Columbia, where he attended A.C. Flora High School.\u00a0 At The Citadel, he majored in biology and German, graduating <\/em>summa cum laude. He is currently pursuing a master\u2019s degree at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, after which he will either serve as a Fulbright English teaching assistant in Germany or enter medical school at the University of South Carolina, to which he has been accepted. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have aspired to be a psychiatrist since middle school. My grandfather, Dr. Robert Milling, was a renowned psychiatrist in Columbia who grew up in Greenwood during the Great Depression. Pop valued family most importantly and would do anything to help others. I have fond memories of hiking with him during annual Christmas family vacations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":694,"featured_media":619,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured"],"yoast_head":"\nGenuine Curiosity - The Citadel Magazine 2021<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/magazine-2021\/2021\/11\/genuine-curiosity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Genuine Curiosity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I have aspired to be a psychiatrist since middle school. 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