First and very rough draft.

[frenchy]

Please read and provide input: Mygrandfather was a cop, my father was a cop and my brother was a cop. Since I chose to serve others in a different way,I am considered the black sheep. As senior year in high school was approachingI knew I was not mature enough to go to college. I signed a contract to join the Navy thesummer between my junior and senior year of high school. I left for boot camp just six weeks aftergraduating from high school. Although itmay not have been my plan at the time but this began my life of service.

I had taken some health occupations classesand wanted to explore the possibilities of making medicine a career. I decided to be a Hospital Corpsman in theNavy. Joining the Navy I could startlearning right away, start working in medicine and grow up some. I workedvaried assignments while in the Navy. Iworked Labor and Delivery, Psychiatry, with marine battalions in the field, andonboard an aircraft carrier. I learnedall I could by going to psychiatric technician school and Independent duty corpsmanschool.

During these varied assignments I was able towork alongside many different health care professionals. I worked with Mds, Dos, Pas, nurses,anesthesiologist, respirator technicians etc. I used these opportunities to explore the wide array of health carecareers. I read about the professions, Iobserved these careers first hand and I spoke with the professionals about theadvantages and disadvantages of each of the careers. I decided that becoming a PA was the correctcareer path for me.

I workedon obtaining my bachelor’s degree. Dueto my commitment to the Navy and my family I could not be a full timestudent. I had to take college coursesat night, while juggling 6 month deployments, pre-deployment training, a wife, andtwo kids while working 40 to 60 hours a week. I was able to obtain my degree from Campbell University and was twice onthe dean’s list. After completing mydegree I began taking post baccalaureate classes that would satisfy the pre-requisitesfor PA school.

As a volunteer in my church, I was asked tochaperone a group of teens to camp. During the week at camp I met a gentleman on the staff that wasorganizing health care teams to developing countries around the world. Six weeks later I joined a team traveling toVenzuela to provide health care to natives along the Orinoco River. This turned out to be one of the mostdifficult and valuable weeks of my life.

Thistrip came at a perfect time as I was eligible for retirement from theNavy. After this first trip I wasoffered a position with this organization to further coordinate these trips.Since this time I have travelled on twelve of these trips to nine differentcountries. I continue to work leadingtrips and in the health clinic at the college and for their summer camps.

It is mydesire to become a Physician Assistant for two main reasons. First, my family and I live in theAdirondacks of upstate New York. This isa medically underserved area. Aftercompleting a Physician Assistant program, I want to work in primary care toincrease access to care in the Adirondacks. Second, I want to be better prepared to serve on the internationalhealth care teams. Although I am not a typicalstudent, I believe that my life experiences would make me a valuable member ofany Physician Assistant program.

I have never stopped learning, persevering,growing toward my goal and will not stop till I have reached this one. I havethe backing of the people I work for, my wife and kids. How can I fail? Now allI need is for one chance, one chance to reach this goal to be a P.A. and a manof service for the rest of my life. This is where you come in where you can bea part of this story.