I grew up with a nontraditional education, homeschooled through high school. One of my first interactions with a formal education setting was a combined Wilderness First Responder and Emergency Medical Technician course that opened my eyes to a deep interest in medicine; biology, as a whole, felt like opening a door to a world where things made sense. As a Marine, I started my undergraduate degree with Harvard's Extension school, finishing my degree in Biology as a veteran. My experiences working in difficult environments in with limited resources turned my interest in medicine specifically into an interest in emergency and rural medicine. I currently volunteer as an EMT and work in Firefighting, while finishing my postbaccalaureate premedical coursework for graduate school.