Hello,
My name is Will Lawhorn, I am from the wonderful land of south georgia! Not many people down here aspire to be much of anything it seems! All of my high school classmates are in BBA programs or Liberal Arts, if they are in college. Most never went, they settled for the "Good Ol' Boy" mechanic, lineman, craft trades, etc. I know we need these people and I am definitely not saying that in a derogatory manner, especially after you hear my background. My mom and dad neither completed undergrad school, while my dad did complete tech school to be a machinist. I have two M.D.'s in my family, both cardiothoracic surgeons, they are father and son. I know the eldest went to UGA undergrad, MCG Augusta for med school, and studied either general surgery or was a fellow in the cardiothoracic program at Johns Hopkins, not sure which. At any rate we are not that close as I have never met the men, just heard of them. I really have no one to talk to about school and my aspirations. So, on with the meat and potatoes, so to speak. I was not a very good high school student, I was definitely intelligent, so I have been told, but I didn't "apply myself." I never did classwork or homework, I skipped class pretty often. However apparently I am one of the gifted "passive learners" I can sit through a lecture, and "absorb" information, especially if it interests me. Despite my high test average and always acing my finals, it wasn't enough. I failed so badly that in my Junior Year my academic GPA was a 1.7. Still I couldn't be motivated it seemed. So, one day for no particular reason, I dropped out, and went to work for a local industrial construction company as a welder. I traveled all over the eastern seaboard and the southwest working as a pipefitter with multiple different companies for two years. I made supervisor after about 10 months. I was good with my craft, but I could also talk with engineers and otherwise "educated" people and not feel intimidated like most in the trade. I made as high as thirty five dollars per hour on straight time, fifty two dollars and fifty cents an hour overtime, with a company truck, phone, laptop, credit card, and all the perks. I got injured on the job and covered it up so I wouldn't lose my job, and wound up quitting because I actually had messed up some tendons in my leg pretty badly, to where I couldn't walk or climb, which is a job requirement. So hear I am, no job, behind on my bills, and hurt with no help, because I was too stubborn to file a worker's compensation claim. I made it through for four months by selling my toy's, my boat, my guns, my guitars, everything. I had somewhat of an epiphany and realized, this is not the life I want to live. In all this time I was a very active member of the volunteer fire department here. I have quite a few certifications, some that took me over seven months of night classes to obtain. I always had an interest in the medical field, I loved the show Trauma:Life in the ER. It seemed real to me not as much a drama like the rest of the shows on TV. When I was young I used to tell people I would be a Doctor one day. While I was in the fire department I was exposed to all sorts of trauma and medical emergencies, being we run BLS on our trucks. It wasn't long and I was signed up for EMT school. I love EMS, I look forward to every single call, knowing that I may be the one that makes sure someone's mom can get to a physician in such a way that she can walk again, or keeping dad hanging on, while I wait for a helicopter to land in a field on the side of the interstate. I love the feeling, when we get Grandpa in the ambulance, and I can confidently tell the family, he is having a heart attack, but we are going to get him to the hospital, or when we push an amp of D50 and Grandma seems to come back to life after a diabetic emergency. I love helping people, and I want so much more than to pull up at the ED, and push them down the halls, telling them, that I will see them later that they are in good hands now. I want to be on the other end of the spectrum, I would love to look at my patient and say, now you are here and we are going to get you better. I was recently diagnosed with ADHD-PI and have been medicated. I am doing so much better focusing on things that matter. I am currently enrolled in an Advanced EMT program here in GA, and will graduate in May of 2014. When I have completed that, I plan to go to a junior college, and get my college GPA established where I can attend the University here in Valdosta for pre-med biology. Now that I am medicated and my ADHD is under control, I feel like I can handle school. My question now is, even with a good GPA 3.6+, and a good MCAT that I am confident I can obtain, what are my chances of medical schools overlooking the fact that I flunked out of high school, I have a GED, and that part of my prereqs come from a junior college? I apologize for just spilling my life story in one post, but I wanted to bring the whole picture into the equation, and show my genuine passion for medicine. Thank you in advance for taking your time to read and respond.
Will L.
Edit: I failed to mention, I made a full recovery from my injuries sustained on the job as a pipefitter.
My name is Will Lawhorn, I am from the wonderful land of south georgia! Not many people down here aspire to be much of anything it seems! All of my high school classmates are in BBA programs or Liberal Arts, if they are in college. Most never went, they settled for the "Good Ol' Boy" mechanic, lineman, craft trades, etc. I know we need these people and I am definitely not saying that in a derogatory manner, especially after you hear my background. My mom and dad neither completed undergrad school, while my dad did complete tech school to be a machinist. I have two M.D.'s in my family, both cardiothoracic surgeons, they are father and son. I know the eldest went to UGA undergrad, MCG Augusta for med school, and studied either general surgery or was a fellow in the cardiothoracic program at Johns Hopkins, not sure which. At any rate we are not that close as I have never met the men, just heard of them. I really have no one to talk to about school and my aspirations. So, on with the meat and potatoes, so to speak. I was not a very good high school student, I was definitely intelligent, so I have been told, but I didn't "apply myself." I never did classwork or homework, I skipped class pretty often. However apparently I am one of the gifted "passive learners" I can sit through a lecture, and "absorb" information, especially if it interests me. Despite my high test average and always acing my finals, it wasn't enough. I failed so badly that in my Junior Year my academic GPA was a 1.7. Still I couldn't be motivated it seemed. So, one day for no particular reason, I dropped out, and went to work for a local industrial construction company as a welder. I traveled all over the eastern seaboard and the southwest working as a pipefitter with multiple different companies for two years. I made supervisor after about 10 months. I was good with my craft, but I could also talk with engineers and otherwise "educated" people and not feel intimidated like most in the trade. I made as high as thirty five dollars per hour on straight time, fifty two dollars and fifty cents an hour overtime, with a company truck, phone, laptop, credit card, and all the perks. I got injured on the job and covered it up so I wouldn't lose my job, and wound up quitting because I actually had messed up some tendons in my leg pretty badly, to where I couldn't walk or climb, which is a job requirement. So hear I am, no job, behind on my bills, and hurt with no help, because I was too stubborn to file a worker's compensation claim. I made it through for four months by selling my toy's, my boat, my guns, my guitars, everything. I had somewhat of an epiphany and realized, this is not the life I want to live. In all this time I was a very active member of the volunteer fire department here. I have quite a few certifications, some that took me over seven months of night classes to obtain. I always had an interest in the medical field, I loved the show Trauma:Life in the ER. It seemed real to me not as much a drama like the rest of the shows on TV. When I was young I used to tell people I would be a Doctor one day. While I was in the fire department I was exposed to all sorts of trauma and medical emergencies, being we run BLS on our trucks. It wasn't long and I was signed up for EMT school. I love EMS, I look forward to every single call, knowing that I may be the one that makes sure someone's mom can get to a physician in such a way that she can walk again, or keeping dad hanging on, while I wait for a helicopter to land in a field on the side of the interstate. I love the feeling, when we get Grandpa in the ambulance, and I can confidently tell the family, he is having a heart attack, but we are going to get him to the hospital, or when we push an amp of D50 and Grandma seems to come back to life after a diabetic emergency. I love helping people, and I want so much more than to pull up at the ED, and push them down the halls, telling them, that I will see them later that they are in good hands now. I want to be on the other end of the spectrum, I would love to look at my patient and say, now you are here and we are going to get you better. I was recently diagnosed with ADHD-PI and have been medicated. I am doing so much better focusing on things that matter. I am currently enrolled in an Advanced EMT program here in GA, and will graduate in May of 2014. When I have completed that, I plan to go to a junior college, and get my college GPA established where I can attend the University here in Valdosta for pre-med biology. Now that I am medicated and my ADHD is under control, I feel like I can handle school. My question now is, even with a good GPA 3.6+, and a good MCAT that I am confident I can obtain, what are my chances of medical schools overlooking the fact that I flunked out of high school, I have a GED, and that part of my prereqs come from a junior college? I apologize for just spilling my life story in one post, but I wanted to bring the whole picture into the equation, and show my genuine passion for medicine. Thank you in advance for taking your time to read and respond.
Will L.
Edit: I failed to mention, I made a full recovery from my injuries sustained on the job as a pipefitter.
