I have been very active during my teen years and continue to be at the University of Iowa. When in high school, I lettered on the JV and Varsity bowling teams, and bowled a 300 game my junior year. I received 7 awards at the awards banquet for bowling including breaking 2 school records, and being named to the All City and All Conference teams my senior year. I was also on the tennis team and received JV and Varsity letters all 4 years, plus the Coach's award 3 years. I participated in SODA and TRY, and worked the TV news station my senior year.
Outside of high school, I received my Eagle Scout in 2015, 22 Merit badges and was Troop 35's chaplain for 3 years. I was in 4-H for 9 years, and was an officer of my club for 4 years. I participated in 4-H at the county level and was awarded the highest 3 honors in our county which were The Spirit of 4-H Award, the Danforth Award, and the 4-H Leadership award. I have been a Deacon at Noelridge Christian Church for 4 years, and volunteer for the Saturday Meal Program once a month, I have volunteered at the Iowa State Fair for 1-2 days for over 10 years. I have been matched with my big brother through the Big Brother Big Sister program for 6 years. I have participated in Special Olympics in tennis, bowling, track, and downhill skiing and may represent Iowa at the National Special Olympics in 2018 for tennis. I won a 4 state Special Olympics tennis tournament last summer..
In college, I am ranked #131 nationally for rookie club bowlers, am #1 for U of Iowa and am in the tennis club. I tried out to be Herky, but do not know if I will be chosen yet.
My family includes my sister, who is a student at the University of Alabama, and my mother who is an Emergency nurse at St Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids.

Essay: ECMO

Those may seem like just random letters put together, but to me, they represent the best thing in the world! When I was born, I was probably gifted like my sister, but within minutes, the doctors noticed I was having trouble breathing. The next month was rocky to say the least, and at 1 month of age, I was placed on ECMO, as the last effort to save my life since my Pulmonary Valve still had not opened up and I had under oxygenated blood going through me. Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation is a form of life-support, a machine that does the work of the patient's heart and lungs.
Being on the ECMO allows the heart and lungs to rest and recover. The patients that go on ECMO are only the ones who have not responded to usual treatments of ventilators, medications, and oxygen therapies. Candidates to go on the machine must have a reversible heart or lung disorder--it will not actually heal these organs. You can be on the machine from several days to a few weeks. I was on it for 8 days.
Being on ECMO allows for gas exchange to sustain life. The machine actually removes carbon dioxide and oxygenates the red blood cells. The machine I was on looked like it was made in a garage and just spliced together, but now there are much more modern looking, and more compact machines. Also they can now go into your groin or heart to get to your blood supply. For me, they went into my Carotid and Jugular vessels and now I do not have those on my right side, but because of the Circle of Willis, I have great circulation in my brain.
Many patients who go on ECMO have too much fluid in their body and ECMO can take that fluid out. I was a 6.5 lb baby but they took 8 gallons of fluid off me!
I was the #24 baby to go on the machine at the University of Iowa. There is a national registry of 51,000 patients who have been on ECMO. For neonates with respiratory failure, there is a 75% chance for survival.
ECMO was life saving for myself and many others since I was on it. Now there are many other families who have their baby, child, or adult because of ECMO and it's advances. I would of died or possibly been flown to Kansas City, and then I might not have survived the trip to get put on ECMO if the University of Iowa did not have that ability. My mother has relived those 8 days many times in her mind and what the outcome could have been. Even though I have a learning disability, I feel that I am a productive citizen (see my bio) and can make a difference in other's lives and in the world.
Again, 51,000 people have had a much better chance at living than if the ECMO had never been developed and hopefully many more will benefit from it in the future.