From Atlanta-Bill Clarkson, who recently announced plans to retire after 23 years as President of The Westminster Schools, remembers the Moment that prompted and propelled his career as a chaplain, educator and administrator. It wasn’t in the hallway of a school or a church – it was in the hallway of a psychiatric ward.
Bill was an 18-year-old freshman at Duke University and, as a financial aid student, needed a part-time job to help pay for his undergraduate degree. He found the job at the University psychiatric hospital – a line of work that seemed to align nicely with his interest in pursuing a psychology major. He worked four-hour shifts as a psychiatric attendant three days a week.
“You got to wear a white coat and look pretty official, but basically you were there to aid the doctors and assistants,” Bill recalled in our accompanying Moments HD video.
A mere three days into his job, Bill was assigned a shift that would change the course of his career. He was assigned to sit within a “locked ward inside the locked ward of Meyer Ward” to observe a new patient. That patient’s name, Stanley (alias), still rings as clearly in Bill’s mind today as it did on that day in the Fall of 1970
Bill was asked to observe Stanley’s behavior while they sat together in the locked ward – a long hallway with chairs and sofas along one wall for interaction with patients. Along the opposite wall was a row of empty, individual padded cells.
Bill, in his crisp white lab coat, watched as the nurses locked the door behind him, leaving the young freshman to sit alone with the 48-year-old tobacco farmer who had exhibited extreme manic-depressive disorder. The patient had had an initial dose of medication. Stanley pulled out a pack of Camel non-filter cigarettes, tore the pack open, stuffed all the cigarettes in his mouth, and then spat them out on the floor. Stanley looked up at Bill, waiting for a response.
More here-
http://saportareport.com/blog/2013/04/bill-clarksons-moment-battling-a-patient-in-a-mental-ward-propelled-his-career-leading-atlantas-top-private-school/
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