Throughout my childhood and my “teenhood,” I had the utmost respect for the military and its service members. I had always imagined myself making a career out of the military. I even started the application process for the West Point Military Academy but near the end of high school I experienced the “I-do-not-know-what-I-want-to-do-with-my-life” crisis that is fairly common among people my age. I feared that I limited my possibilities from a young age by committing myself to something without exposing myself to other things. Shortly after my crisis, I withdrew from the idea of going to West Point and began looking at regular universities in Florida and Alabama.
I was attracted to the University of Alabama at Birmingham largely because of the Undergraduate Neuroscience Program. I have always been interested in the nervous system and the mysteriousness of the brain. Most of all, I was passionate about finding answers to personal problems such as brain tumors that my mother suffered from and multiple sclerosis that my uncle suffers from. Therefore, UAB and the relatively new neuroscience major was an easy choice for me.Dr. McFarland, one of my greatest mentors, set me on my path to finding answers. He showed me the many things that I could do to be successful and let me dip my toes in the field of research. In my early years of college, I dabbled in bench-work/animal research but it wasn’t until my junior year when I found more enthusiasm for human research in Dr. Kwon’s ophthalmology research lab.
When I committed to UAB, I still felt an attachment and belonging to the military. I tried to find a compromise between the military and a higher education in science. My answer was the UAB ROTC Blazer Battalion. Now I am able to pursue a bachelor in neuroscience and commission as an officer in the Army. Furthermore, I am able to attend a medical school and still be a physician for the Army.
UAB was truly an eye opener for me. There was a plethora of opportunities that I did not know existed. I showed proficiency in military leadership in the Blazer Battalion, which led to my interests in other leadership extracurricular activities such as Orientation Leader and Blazer Hall Executive Council. Additionally, I would have never found my true passion of assisting disabled children. For instance, my honors program, ELSP, showed me about volunteering as a camp counselor for the Muscular Dystrophy Association summer program, which was one of the most emotionally poignant memories of my life.
Now, I will be graduating in April 2016 as a neuroscience major and philosophy, chemistry, and military science minor. I will then serve in the Army Medical Service Corps (70B) at Mobile, AL for a year. Afterwards, I hope to attend medical school and continue my military service.
