When I was growing up in Delta Junction, Alaska, I never imagined I would one day be in medical school.

My world was small in the best possible way. Delta Junction is a town of about 900 people in Interior Alaska, where life revolves around family, community and the land. My family lives a subsistence lifestyle, so much of our time was spent hunting, fishing, gardening and cutting wood to heat our home through long winters.

I often describe growing up in rural Alaska as living in survival mode. Much of daily life is focused on providing for our family and getting ready for the next season. But it was also a beautiful way to grow up. It taught me how deeply people depend on one another and how important community can be.

I spent most of my childhood outdoors — hiking, fishing, whitewater rafting and flying airplanes. I was homeschooled and involved in my church and local community. Basketball was also a huge part of my life. In Alaska, high school basketball games bring entire towns together. Some of my favorite memories are traveling across the state for games and seeing how communities rallied around their kids.

Looking back, those experiences shaped the way I think about service, teamwork and responsibility. At the time, though, I wasn’t thinking about medicine. I simply knew I loved learning, especially science, and I was curious about how the world worked.

I just didn’t know where that curiosity would take me.

Discovering what was possible

When I left Alaska to attend college in Minnesota to play basketball, I became the first person in my family to pursue a four-year degree.

Like many first-generation students, I arrived with plenty of ambition but very little understanding of the opportunities that existed. I planned to study biology because I enjoyed science, but I had never been exposed to scientific research.

Honestly, I didn’t even know what research was.

That changed when a biology faculty mentor encouraged me to pursue a summer internship at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Suddenly, I found myself working alongside scientists who were studying proteins using X-ray crystallography.

It felt like I had stepped into an entirely different world.

I often joke that it felt like I was living in a Star Trek movie. Every day, I was surrounded by people asking questions no one had answered before and using technology I didn’t even know existed.

For the first time, I saw how scientific discoveries could eventually become treatments that improve people’s lives. Research wasn’t just about learning new things. It was about solving problems that matter. 

That experience opened a door I didn’t know was there. 

Medicine wasn’t a sudden realization; it was a gradual understanding that this was where my interests and values came together. I wanted a career centered on science, discovery and serving others. 

Little by little, medicine started to feel like the right path. 

Finding my place through WWAMI

As I explored medical schools, I found myself looking for a program that reflected the values I grew up with while helping me discover where my path in medicine would lead.

The UW School of Medicine’s Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho (WWAMI) program immediately stood out.

The opportunity to train in Alaska while learning how to care for rural and underserved communities felt deeply personal. These were the communities that shaped me. They were the places I understood.

I remember thinking, “This is exactly what I want to do.”

When I was accepted, I withdrew my applications to other medical schools. I knew where I wanted to be.

Today, as a medical student in the WWAMI Alaska program, I have the opportunity to learn from incredible physicians while caring for the communities that inspired me to pursue medicine in the first place.

A future full of possibilities 

One of the things I love most about medicine is that every experience opens another door. 

As an undergraduate, I conducted epidemiology research using the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us database, helping researchers better understand health outcomes across diverse populations. This summer, I’ll be working at Seattle Children’s, helping investigate CAR T-cell therapies (a type of immunotherapy) for brain tumors. 

Each experience has shown me a different side of medicine. 

I’ve become interested in oncology, immunology, pulmonary medicine and primary care. Every time I think I’ve found the path I want to follow, I discover another field that fascinates me. 

For now, I’m keeping an open mind. It’s kind of a no-lose scenario. There are so many ways to make a difference. 

What matters most to me is finding the best way to serve patients and communities, and scholarship support has made that possible. 

The freedom to follow my calling

Like many medical students, I rely on loans to finance my education. Scholarships help reduce that burden and give me more freedom to make decisions based on where I can have the greatest impact rather than financial considerations. 

Quite simply, scholarships are one of the reasons I’m here. 

For students like me, especially first-generation students, they provide opportunities that might otherwise be out of reach. They also make it easier to consider careers in fields and communities where physicians are urgently needed. 

The impact extends far beyond a single student. A scholarship can help shape where a physician chooses to practice, which ultimately affects the patients and communities they serve. 

Home is still Alaska 

Medical school has introduced me to opportunities I never imagined growing up in Delta Junction. 

I’ve worked with researchers across the country, studied diseases I had never heard of and learned from people whose careers I deeply admire. 

But through it all, one thing hasn’t changed: my connection to Alaska. 

My future may include residency and fellowship training in other places. My career path will almost certainly evolve in ways I can’t predict today. But I know where my roots are. 

There’s a saying that all roads lead to Rome. For me, all roads lead to Alaska. 

Wherever medicine takes me next, my goal is to bring what I learn back to the communities that first taught me the meaning of service, resilience and caring for others. 

As told to Patsy Cadwell