Chapter 04: “Thinking Like an Electron” in College: From Engineering, to Chemistry, to Molecular Biology
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Description
In this chapter, Dr. Tweardy explains how he shifted from a major in aerospace engineering to chemistry, eventually making the decision to apply to medical school. He talks about academic challenges he faced in his first year at Princeton University, how he developed the mindset of an academician, and how he discovered, while taking organic chemistry, that he could “think like an electron.” As this was in the early days of biochemistry, he made the move into cell biology. Dr. Tweardy then explains how he began to think about medical school for his further education.
Identifier
TweardyDJ_01_20190122_C04
Publication Date
1-22-2019
City
Houston, Texas
Interview Session
David J. Tweardy, MD, Oral History Interview, January 22, 2019
Topics Covered
The Interview Subject's Story - Educational Path; Character, Values, Beliefs, Talents; Personal Background; Professional Path; Evolution of Career; Inspirations to Practice Science/Medicine; Influences from People and Life Experiences; Understanding Cancer, the History of Science, Cancer Research
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Disciplines
History of Science, Technology, and Medicine | Oncology | Oral History
Transcript
Tacey. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
So I’m interested, kind of going back to college, maybe more on the academic side, and seeing that questioning of your original commitment to a major, and how that morphed over time. So what was the academic environment at Princeton like? How did it suit you? How did it help you unfold?
David Tweardy, MD:
Well, I think it suited me really, really well. I went to Princeton as an engineer, as I mentioned to you, and I liked my engineering courses. It was pretty grueling. Engineers had to take five courses a semester, and in addition I was playing basketball, and I was on scholarship, and so I also had a job. So I was busy. The academics were rigorous, but because I—I thought my instructors were excellent. I thought they were the most brilliant people I’d ever met at that point. And I really loved the material. I really tried hard. And the story—(laughs) But the funny thing is because I was so busy, I couldn’t keep up. There’s just—let’s be flat honest here: I could not keep up. I was involved in too many things—the three things: academics, sports, and a job. I wasn’t really that socially active. I mean, I —and my role, even starting when I was in college, is I would take one night off a week. Otherwise, I’d just get buried, okay? So I realized that early. I didn’t have this adjustment problem I think that some kids have when they go to school, in part, I think, because I went to South Kent. I think two years at South Kent really prepared me for being outside the family, and taking responsibility for myself, not letting it sort of go to my head in a way. But the thing that saved my hind end, to use a phrase my parents might use, is that Princeton had the great wisdom to do its finals after the holiday break. So you would work and take classes till the break, and then you’d take your two- to three-week break, and then you’d come back and you’d do your exams, and then you’d have a week semester break, and then you’d come back and do your second semester. So what did I do for those two weeks that I was home? Well, (laughs) I used to study, eight, twelve—eight to ten, ten hours a day, and that’s how I learned the material. That’s how I basically passed and, in some instances, did really well on tests. Basically it was just a reflection that I’d mastered the material, because I—and it was because of that two-week break that I—I mean, I would participate in holiday stuff, but … (laughs) So we had this—my family laughs because there was a walk-in closet that my dad modified to have a desk in it. So that my oldest brother, who went to college first, could come home and have a place that he could actually do some studying that was quiet. He comes home, and there’s six kids at that time—well, five other kids running around, and how is he going to find a quiet place? So that was the desk I used, and I studied constantly over that 12—and so that was my saving. That saved me. And, frankly, I guess the other thing, it made me realize that I liked that quiet contemplation and the learning and mastery of the material. I think that students are not born; I think students develop over time. And I think that was the experience, to me, that really made me realize—it’s like the crew experience from my physical side, that if you really wanted to become fit and really achieve something athletic, you had to work hard at it and pay a price. Well, I think that’s the same thing in the academic world. If you’re going to master a body of material, you’re going to have to spend the time it takes to master it. And I think that first semester, second semester—and by the time I was a sophomore, I really had learned that well. I mean, I—and so the academic—I became very much an academician. I think you probably remember, having done your thesis? It’s not a trivial thing. (laughter) And there’s some point in your travels towards that that you realize you’re going to do the academic thing, and you’re going to have to do certain things that maybe some of your classmates aren’t doing.
Tacey. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Absolutely. I remember my dad telling—and I rarely tell personal stories, but this one is very appropriate—I remember my father telling a story about a guy he knew who was all but dissertation and then abandoned it. And I remember when he told me—I was in high school—I had no understanding or appreciation for what that meant, but then, of course, when I went through my own—and I think anybody who’s gone through a PhD program suddenly learns, oh yeah, there are any number of moments when you think, I don’t know if I can push this through to the end.
David Tweardy, MD:
That’s right.
Tacey. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
And you have to muster up whatever it is, whatever resources you have to push through.
David Tweardy, MD:
Yep, yep, yep.
Tacey. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
And that’s where I think you discover if you’re an academic or not.
David Tweardy, MD:
Exactly.
Tacey. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
I mean, sometimes you can just do it because—I always say the best dissertation is a done dissertation, (laughter) but do you enjoy the process—
David Tweardy, MD:
Yes.
Tacey. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
—or do you want to have written it, or do you enjoy writing it?
David Tweardy, MD:
That’s right, and it’s all about the journey. And that’s where I say --as I say, sitting in that tiny, little desk in the closet, with, literally, we’re talking—you would laugh if you saw what (laughs)—
Tacey. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
I hope you have a picture of it.
David Tweardy, MD:
I should’ve taken—oh, you know what? I don’t.
Tacey. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
That’d be so great, but—
David Tweardy, MD:
That’s a really good point, because now in retrospect I go, how could I possibly have spent hours upon hours? But anyway.
Tacey. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Well, your kids would love to see it, and your grandkids.
David Tweardy, MD:
Yeah, yes, they might. (laughs) On the other hand, having three boys, they’re still—they don’t—they still tend to like to throw hand grenades at their dad’s stories. But that’s where I learned. I think that’s—and even at the moment, I knew that. I knew that having actually—being able to do it, not going bananas, I think made me realize I had the motivation and the interest and the desire to do something academic.
Tacey. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
And there’s a pleasure in it.
David Tweardy, MD:
Oh, it is. That’s exactly right. It’s the discipline. It’s the—obviously, it’s—and, again, the athletics and the academic parallels—the thing you learn is you can’t bite off too much. You need to know what is an aliquot that you can handle. You pick that, you master it, and then there’s the satisfaction of having done that. Same thing with your athletic endeavors. You can’t try to bite off more than you can chew, because all you do is you hurt yourself and you disincentivize yourself. That risk/reward cycle has to be fine-tuned, and I think that’s what I learned in college. I think—
Tacey. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Yeah, that self-management stuff.
David Tweardy, MD:
Self-management, and how to reward myself when I did do something, and do it in a way that’s much more frequent, frankly, than the tests, because you had to make this work every day.
Tacey. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
You do.
David Tweardy, MD:
So that was—so I was very, like I say, fortunate to be at a place where they took … And the other thing I have to say—this is really a very important point-- is that Princeton really respects the opinions of their students. They really want to know what you think. They really want to make you work to express your thinking. And they eschew the multiple choice questions. They always go essay. And they really want you to be able to absorb, digest, and even reconfigure a body of work, and then come up with and apply that to a question that hasn’t been asked before, necessarily. And, in fact, you do a thesis at Princeton as a senior, and so they—that experience was—again, that probably culminated that process that I’ve been describing of my wanting to be an academician, and it just culminated in my senior thesis. And, again, Princeton is a unique place, in my mind, obviously—and tell me to shut up when you want, (laughs) when I go overboard. But they save the thesis of every graduate, and you can go see it. So my 40th —yeah, No, 30th, 35th reunion, which is a whole darn thing, I could go to McCosh and ask at the front desk, “Please pull out my thesis,” and wait for ten minutes, and they would, and I could see it. And it was like (laughs), it was the most humbling experience, because it was—the amount of time I put into it—it’s not a PhD thesis, but your whole senior year kind of focuses on that. You do your other stuff, but then the focus is on thesis. And it is—that, even though it was mediocre, it was just—it just, again—it just made you realize they respected you. They think this time you’re putting in is worthwhile. They think you are worthwhile, and not—in terms of the intellectual effort you can put forth. And I have to say, some of those theses—and kind of every now and then they’ll come up with the ten top theses—they’re amazing. I mean, some of them are just amazing, what the kids can do. So I think Princeton, as you can tell, we’re a really good match.
Recommended Citation
Tweardy, David J. MD and Rosolowski, Tacey A. PhD, "Chapter 04: “Thinking Like an Electron” in College: From Engineering, to Chemistry, to Molecular Biology" (2019). Interview Chapters. 1386.
https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewchapters/1386
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