Each year, the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core (BIC) invites one alumnus to return for Baylor Homecoming to share a lecture with students, faculty and other alumni who were or are still involved with the BIC. On Friday, the BIC welcomed back Dr. James Saucedo, an orthopedic surgeon at Houston Methodist Hospital who gave a lecture entitled “Living the Examined Life at Baylor and Beyond.”
Cedar Park junior Shrivalli Penumerthy said she felt very involved while listening to the lecture, knowing he went through the same type of schooling as she is doing now.
“It always feels great to have alumni back,” Penumerthy said. “I feel like we are always so immersed in coursework that we forget there is a life after Baylor. It allows students to ask questions and get a sense of their future. I think the main thing is that they realize it is possible.”
Saucedo is also a member of the BIC Alumni Advisory Board. He graduated in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in University Scholars, participating in the BIC on a pre-med track. Saucedo said the BIC influenced his life by allowing him to see the world differently, with more compassion and understanding. He said it also allowed him to connect with his patients and read between the lines when patients were carrying more than they may at first communicate. All together, Saucedo said the BIC taught him how to love and appreciate others around him.
Centennial, Colo., freshman Emma Monark said Saucedo’s lecture pertained to her life by assuring her life wasn’t meant to be lived alone.
“I am confident that by being an active member of the BIC, I will grow in personal and professional perspective and find new ways to connect with other people,” Monark said. “I was reminded that I need to start checking into myself more. If I am not fully in tune with myself and my own emotions, I cannot be there for the people I love the most. Overall, Dr. Saucedo correctly observed how important perspective and connection are in BIC education at Baylor, in the professional world and in everyone’s personal lives.”
Even today, Saucedo said the BIC has stayed with him through everything he has done, saying what he was taught has helped him throughout life. He said one of the lessons that has stuck with him was that “truth, if it is true, has no fear of being found false.” Saucedo cited these words as to why he is more open to asking questions, giving him the opportunity to explore and examine his faith without having to feel guilty.
Looking back, Saucedo said he felt as if he was in his own little BIC bubble, in which ideas could be shared openly, fearlessly and with acceptance of one another even if they disagreed with each other.
His advice for BIC students was to “Enjoy it. Ask questions. Do not be afraid to speak up or of what others will think. Be honest, authentic and open-minded.”
