Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Written On By Experience, Akesis Anonymous Author

Akesis

This poem is about a conversation I had with a friend about beginnings, and how any given experience has no intrinsic good or bad qualities, but rather holds whatever we imbibe it with.

What Is My Beginning?, Stephanie Braunthal

Akesis

I find that when we ask about beginnings, we are really asking about the present. How did a person come to be who he or she is today? As I try to answer this question about myself, I am finding it easier to express myself in diagrams (pen on scratch paper) than in words. Perhaps this is a product of being a medical student; or perhaps it is because beginnings are a complex amalgam of static forces and fluid experiences that cannot be expressed linearly through prose...Enjoy!

To Care Is To Treat, Himanshu Malhotra

Akesis

To Care is to Treat is a reflection of a few experiences from my second and third year that have inspired me to become a palliative care physician.

The Narrative Of My Childhood, Nihit N. Mehta

Akesis

I was a weak child from early on, never able to run or play as much as the other kids in my block. Each month I'd visit doctors, trying my best to recover from common colds and coughs. Luckily, all this changed as I matured and in a way I almost began living a "normal life".

However, when it came to deciding what I wanted to be as an adult, I remembered the sick kid I was and how my doctors were always there for me, helping me "find health." This made me realize that I too, could someday be …

The Descent Down The Step One Rabbit Hole, Katelyn A. Hanson

Akesis

At the start of my second year of medical school I was ecstatic to move away from the study of the normal, healthy human body and to begin to immerse myself in the complex mechanisms behind the pathophysiology of disease. I drew this illustration to connect aspects of my personality with the aspects of medicine I was most excited about exploring deeper. This image was drawn with permanent markers on the cover of a binder dedicated solely to preparing for the first part of the medical licensing exam; I looked at this drawing every day as I drove myself closer …

Laurie's Greenhouse, Elizabeth G. Mcandrew, Kelsey Albert

Akesis

Pottery by: Elizabeth McAndrew

Photography by: Kelsey Albert and Elizabeth McAndrew

Modeling: Laurie the Bird

Materials: Wheel thrown pottery - Cone 10 white clay and dipped glaze (cobalt blue and mossy green). Philodendron Heartleaf Plant. Laurie is a parrotlet, which is the second smallest species of parrot. Photo editing was done directly on the iPhone photo application.

This photo represents beginnings because it includes many elements of my life that I drew toward me in the year that I began my medical career. Living alone for the first time, I bought plants so that I wasn't the only living thing …

Beginnings, Nehal J. Shah

Akesis

The beginning of one thing signifies the end of another – for one to start, another must end. With that said, under karmic and Hindu belief, we are constantly in a cycle of beginnings, and endings, until we achieve “moksha” – true oneness with God. Furthermore, within each cycle, there are four stages of life that one hopes to go through, carrying out the ideal goals and progress of each existence. Therefore, this life ultimately is a new beginning to an old soul – a soul that has traveled and journeyed upon eons of time to find happiness, spirituality, completeness …

Beginnings: A Letter From The Editors, Akesis Editors

Akesis

The editors would like to welcome you to the inaugural issue of Akesis.