... follow your passion.
Hani Elkadi
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Hani Elkadi describes his life as a search with a constant mission for learning.
"I believe I will die as a learner," he said. "When you stop learning, you stop life."
His life has taken different turns, spending years in medicine as a surgeon, but now teaching art and science at Elizabeth Tate High School.
Although some believe going into different fields shows a lack of focus, "I think life is broader and wider than what we try to make of it," Elkadi said.
That's why his advice is to follow your passion, not focus solely on competition or the cost of living.
"If you follow your passion, you're going to be successful, and if you're successful, you're going to be happy," he said.
In the beginning, Elkadi didn't follow his passion, instead going toward what he called the "call of duty."
His love was art, but "art was not the best way to serve your people," he said.
So he started studying medicine, becoming a surgeon for international health organizations, serving areas of war, famine, flood and drought.
He came to Iowa to be a part of the Writers' Workshop, but continued in medicine.
He was selected University of Iowa College of Medicine Teacher of the Year from 1985 to 1987, has published nearly 30 books and has illustrated medical atlases.
He decided to leave medicine at his peak and went back to his passion.
"If I had to advise somebody to do something, follow your passion," he said. "In other words, follow your heart first and then the mind later."
He said he believes that art was the reason why he was a successful surgeon, because it is an application of humanity and feeling, a combination of thinking and emotion.
"The biggest lesson that I learned from my life is that art is the basis of science," he said. "People who value art are people who really know how to deal with problems with life."
— Rachel Gallegos
