LSUS Degree:                                                                                                                                                            B.S. Biological Sciences, 2002 

How I got to LSUS:
I was a Certified Master Farrier (blacksmith) and took a horse kick that put me out of work in the Summer of 1999. I enrolled in the College of Sciences that Fall.

Fond memories of LSUS:
Blacksmithing with Marty Young at the Pioneer Heritage Center; taking care of Dr. Lynch's plants in the hall outside of the collections room; riding my horse all over the playing fields and through the campus on weekends.

LSUS faculty who helped me:
Oh my, the list is long... Dr. Vekovius, Dr. Lynch, Dr. Burden, Dr. Thompson, the Drs. Sisson, Dr. Banks, Dr. Gossett, Dr. Ingold, Dr. Kalinsky. Everybody, really. They are the finest sort, and I miss them.

How LSUS helped me succeed:
Teaching me that even an old dog can learn new tricks. Trusting and relying upon me to do good work. Being accessible to me. By example, making me want to be a better student.

What I do now :
I am a first-year resident physician in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at Dartmouth, technically a post-graduate medical fellow of Dartmouth Medical School.

About my job:
I love my work; it is as fine as shoeing horses, almost as grueling, but not quite as sweaty and dirty. I get to work with the finest sort (again!) and get to learn for the rest of my life.

Advice to college-bound students:
Do it right the first time. Let yourself be directed if you are lacking. Think before you speak. Be intellectually honest with yourself and your faculty. Don't stop learning. Be humble. Remember why you are in that seat, and remember that if Dr. Sisson says you don't need a calculator for the calculus test, you don't!

Advice to someone who wants to enter my field:
It's like preparing yourself for monkhood. Your motivations must be transparent and untouchable by scrutiny. Be humble. Your conduct must be irreproachable. You can do anything if your purpose is singular and you are unflappable.

Tips on choosing a major or career:
What you both go to bed and wake up thinking about; this is your career, given a sound mind.

My toughest professional challenge:
Converting the guilt of not knowing much at all into a method of learning.

My toughest personal challenge:
Balancing my duty at the hospital with my role at home.

Successes (honors, awards, etc.) in my life:
I once wrote a short story (fiction) for James Michener's reading and review at The University Of Texas, a long time ago...

I've learned this from life:
There are more old men in the mountain than in the summer time.

What I'd be doing if I had all the time in the world:
Churning up the LSUS soccer fields atop The Mighty Foy, on a beautiful spring morning in Shreveport .

Additional comments:
Thank you all for letting me ramble. I will never forget any of you great people.