Dr. Liz Twardon

Growing up Polish in Detroit: When I was growing up, I thought I'd be a nun or a dancer or an anthropologist... but I didn't think I'd be a reporter, and I never thought I'd become a doctor. My sisters and I were raised in family of Polish immigrants who settled in Detroit, MI., after World War II, so we grew up speaking Polish and English. None of my household ever had the opportunity to go to college but they always valued education.

My Life at the Detroit News: I thought that being a reporter would force me out of my shell... and I was right! It's amazing now to think back at myself as a 21-year-old naïve, shy intern at a time when there were only a few other women reporters in the newsroom. But I stuck with it and learned a lot about life. I started out on the police beat -- which was gruesome and heart-breaking balanced with occasional heart-warming courage. Eventually I worked up to covering housing, suburban sprawl and even feature stories for the front page. Along the way, I learned to talk to everyone from children to criminals, street people to Presidents. But something was missing....

How India Changed Everything: The anthropologist in me always wanted to travel, but not like a tourist. I wanted to truly immerse myself in another culture to experience how other people perceive and maneuver through the world. I got my chance when I won a Rotary scholarship and chose to spend a year in Calcutta, India. Little did I know how much it would change my life and steer me into a completely different career. I had never witnessed as much poverty nor kindness and generosity before. Partly to cope with the cacophony of millions of people streaming through the streets where many people actually bathed, cooked and slept, I volunteered. Mother Teresa had her home base in Calcutta and ran several homes to serve abandoned children and neglected adults. I chose to serve the ill and dying patients at Kalighat, where nuns cared for homeless, abandoned and ill adults until they recovered or died. I also worked in a street clinic run by a Dr. Jack Praeger who cared for the homeless. Nurse volunteers taught me and other volunteers from all over the world how to care for wounds. I got hooked on healing when I witnessed how even a little focused attention could make a huge difference in recovery, even under suboptimal conditions.