EPISODE 16: ERIC SINTON
aPRIL 19, 2024
Interview by pRIYANKA gERA
Edited by Priyanka Gera
Photo by Ivan Dominguez
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in a handful of places. I was born in Providence, Rhode Island, but before I was 1 we moved to western NY––Alfred to be specific. Then we moved to Middlebury, Vermont, then Southern California. Finally, we moved to Ithaca, with a couple short periods in Argentina.
Argentina?!
Yeah, my parents had some work gigs there so they took me and my sisters with them.
You mentioned your sisters already. Who else is in your family?
Me, my parents and my 2 sisters. I am the middle child.
How was being the middle child growing up?
Middle child vibes? I am not really sure. Emily was the oldest so she got her due attention and Julia is the baby so she got her due attention. I was in the middle so I just did my own thing.
Are you going to be the first doctor in the family?
No. I have an uncle who is a doctor. He is an internist in Seattle.
Why NYMC?
It is the school that accepted me. [laughs]
What did you do before coming to medical school?
I worked in the Forest Service as a wildland firefighter. In fact, that is what I am going back to do between M2 and M3 year. And I had also worked as a scribe in Boston. I also took post-bacc classes.
What about wildland firefighting is drawing you back to it?
It is a job that I got a lot of value out of and there is a lot of camaraderie on the crew. I figured now is a good time to do it before committing to being in the clinic for the rest of school and the rest of my career.
Well, we are going to miss you.
I’ll miss you all too.
This next one is my favorite question of all. How do you take your coffee?
Oh. It varies. I have had way too much coffee today. The first cup I had was around 6am and it was black. Then around 11am I had a cheeky little cortado from Coffee Labs.
What do you think is the key to a long lasting friendship?
I might be in a unique spot to answer this. As I mentioned, I grew up in several places and only a handful of friendships from those places have really lasted for me. Those are the ones where both the dynamic between you and your friend, your sense of humor and your values have grown in compatible ways. For example, I am really good friends with this guy from middle school, Joey, who is all the way in California. We don't talk too often, but even though we don’t share the same sense of humor or values as we did in middle school, the ones we currently have are still compatible and that means a lot to me.
The most spontaneous thing you've ever done…
Biking across the country when I was 18.
Wait… explain?! How long does that take?
A while. It honestly took shorter than I was anticipating. I think 47 days.
Wow. That’s an intense trip. What went into that decision?
I'm hesitant to say it was spontaneous because I did do some planning beforehand. But to my friends and family, it did seem like a spontaneous thing to do. The reality was that I was thinking about doing it for months before. If I were to do it now, I would do it with friends.
You did it alone?!
I did. I would also do it west to east because the prevailing winds go in that direction. Biking east to west like I did involved headwinds everyday and it got exhausting.
Where did you start the trip?
I started at home, in Ithaca, and ended at the Santa Monica Pier.
How did you get back?
Well, I actually stayed in California for a few months. This was in 2015. Eventually I flew back. I had some idea to bike back originally, but to be honest, when that trip ended, I would get so unmotivated. I lost motivation to bike after that trip.
How did you feel at the end of that trip, when you made it to the Pier?
It’s funny you ask that. I had this vision of what the California coast would look like while I was biking. I used that as motivation to keep going on days when the pedaling was rough or I took a fall. I also imagined it being a gentle downslope to the coast and the sun would be shining. The reality was that the last day, biking through LA traffic was awful and I was weaving in and out of heavy traffic. The person I was staying with that night was wondering where I was and it was hard to coordinate with them. I finally go to the Santa Monica Pier after dark. I could barely make out the water; it was black. I wanted to put my front bike tire in the Pacific symbolically. I was wheeling my bike toward the ocean, walking on the sand. All of a sudden a wave lapped up––the water was closer than I thought––and I tried to walk back with my bike but I tripped over it and fell back. The trip ended with a gentle wave enveloping me and the bike. I sold the bike later––it didn’t have much sentimental value to me.
What was your first job?
It was dishwashing at the back of a restaurant. I remember the restaurant branded itself as “southwestern-inspired cuisine”, but it was basically Tex-Mex. I was 16. That was my first W-2 job. Before that, in middle school, I picked up rotting oranges in an orange grove back in California. I was saving for a school trip. I picked up a lot of oranges. Honestly, when they sit on the ground for so long, they smell kind of gross. I still remember the smell of the fermented oranges. It is a useful life skill I picked up.
3 things you always travel with besides your phone.
Can I say phone charger though?
[laughs] Absolutely not.
It is practical though right? I'll try to be a bit more creative than that. I am not sure why this is the hardest question you’ve asked so far. I am a bit of a minimalist. Water and snacks? Does that count?
[Both laugh] If it's really that important to you then sure. What about things you always take with you when you move?
I should be able to answer this question because I have moved around a few times. I am deliberate about objects I keep in my life. It’s like what Marie Kondo said, about wanting things that spark joy. I am being serious. For example, I have on my desk a handful of trinkets. I have a single blue Hot Wheels car that I keep. It's one of thousands of hot wheels cars but I like this one. I see them for sale in buckets but I like mine. And I move with it. I have had it since before college, and as far as I am concerned, I will keep moving around with it.
You should get it framed in the wall one day. Showcase it.
But then I can’t use it. I like to roll it around my desk. There is also a little red plastic robot man that goes like this (**insert Eric miming the robot**). And also a small spring-loaded catapult that fits in your hand. It could probably shoot an M&M.
Is cereal a soup?
Yes. I’ll leave it at that.
Your worst fashion moment.
Oh man. That’s also a hard one. I've had a lot. The one that comes to mind is from middle school. I probably wore basketball shorts almost every day [laughs just thinking about it]. And there was some day where I had these big blue basketball shorts on with an oversized blue T-shirt––they were the exact same shade of blue. Someone asked if I was a blueberry. I think that was when my self-consciousness came online. It was the exact moment my brain started to think that. “Am I a blueberry? Do I need to go home and change?” I lived walking distance from school at the time. I didn’t change; I stayed in the blueberry suit all day.
Your favorite quote from a movie or a book.
Ooo, I actually keep a list on my phone of quotes. Mostly from things I have read. Here is one: “If only there were evil people somewhere, insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?” This is from the author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
What does that mean to you?
I think for me, it's always a reminder that we have a tendency to want things cut and dry, including when it comes to people. But we should remind ourselves that we have our misconceptions about people, and we need to evaluate and reevaluate our relationships with them. There is another one I want to share. Do you remember Dr. Al Lowenfelds? He gave a few lectures last year. He said “15 minutes of daily exercise can add 3 years to your life. Of course some of those 3 years will be spent exercising.” This other one is good. He said “Vitamins and supplements are a good way to make expensive urine.” [both laugh]
What does self-care look like for you?
3-5 deep breaths? I am notorious for not giving myself enough time or space. It is simply dedicated time for myself. I don’t have a specific routine that I follow.
Would you survive a zombie apocalypse?
Yes, but not in the way you think.
What does that mean? I need to know if I can come to you for help or not.
Oh, then the answer is no. The way I would survive is by being a complete mole. If my zombie apocalypse experience was made into a TV show like “The Last of Us,” it wouldn’t sell. I would basically just be hidden, rationing food and sipping water and hanging out in my bunker. I wouldn’t help anyone. I'm sorry. It's an apocalypse. I am super risk-averse when it comes to a zombie apocalypse.
What are you feeling grateful for today?
The rain let up. Finally.
Words of advice to the current M1s.
Keep your head down and work hard.
Contact Eric at esinton@student.nymc.edu.
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