Personal Courage And The Indomitable Spirit

Sweat poured off of his brow and his head rested limply against his M16A2 Rifle but he refused to quit training with his brothers and sisters in arms. Although he was having trouble standing under his own power it struck me that the young man still had the true presence of a warrior. Standing and waiting for his turn at the Basic Rifle Marksmanship Qualification Range while combatting extreme illness, PVT Steven A. Young truly embodied the values of personal courage and the indomitable spirit. This was the last time I saw my “Battle Buddy” PVT Young while attending Basic Combat Training for the United States Army. I never properly said goodbye because later that night he was rushed to the hospital after collapsing. A few days later he succumbed to the cancer that, unbeknownst to anyone had been slowly attacking his body for weeks.

Young was only 18 years old when he achieved his lifelong dream and enlisted in the United States Army. I met him on a bus bound for Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, where together we underwent the transition from civilian to Soldier. Somehow, Young had gone undiagnosed for acute lymphoblastic leukemia and completed the first eight weeks of basic training without complaint, but as the training wore on, his body became progressively weaker. In spite of the clandestine killer lurking in his body which, broke him down physically, his spirit never wavered. This was evidenced by the letter he wrote from the hospital urging the rest of our company to complete Basic Training in his stead. PVT Young passed away that summer, but his memory has stayed with me through five years of military service and over two years deployed overseas, driving me to accomplish on my dreams.

The experience of befriending Young ta...

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...working closely with patients in underserved populations, I believe that I can truly make a difference and impact the health of our nation.

My aspirations to contribute to the field of medicine have developed continuously since that smoldering summer day on the M16 range in Fort Leonard Wood and the memory of Steven Young has never been far from my mind. The honor, integrity, and discipline that I developed in the military combined with my drive to continuously learn about health promotion and the human body makes me a prime candidate to become an Osteopathic physician. Through my studies and eventual practice of medicine, I hope to venerate my friend’s memory by achieving my goals in medicine and I thrill at the chance to attend LECOM and eventually provide high quality, person focused Osteopathic and primary medical care to patients in the Erie area and beyond.