Alumni Highlight

Where are you currently living?
For the next year or so, I'll continue holding the fort in Moscow.

What are you doing professionally right now?
I am a full-time student at the University of Idaho. I'm studying medical sciences to "catch up" on the prerequisite courses needed for medical school admission. Though taking entomology with Gordon Wilson was certainly a highlight of my academic career, it seems the hopeful medical student needs a bit more foundational knowledge in organic chemistry and biological systems to study as a physician. I also work at Veritas Surgery Center in Moscow. I could wax eloquent about free-market medicine and corrupt insurance agencies, but I'll save that for later.

How has your experience at NSA influenced your career and professional journey?
I had already decided to attend medical school and train as a physician prior to starting NSA. So, each course was framed in terms of "how exactly will this enable me to better serve my patients in the future?" A few highlights: Dr. Chris Schlect's History Colloquium taught me how to pursue scholarly research and avoid getting tangled up in the weeds of peer-reviewed journal articles. Natural History with Dr. Gordon Wilson taught me to avoid scientific reductionism like the plague. Latin with Tim Griffith taught me that ethical questions are not simple, yet at the same time, incredibly simple. Finally, Dr. Mitch Stokes’ Philosophy Colloquium equipped me with an interpretive framework I had been sorely lacking.

How have NSA professors shaped your personal and professional development?
I am certain that most alumni would echo this sentiment: I needed some serious spiritual formation upon entering NSA. My NSA courses served as an anvil, while my professors served as the hammers, straightening my walk with the Lord. They are the sort of men who know you and will refuse to let you get away with sinful tendencies and habits, both in and out of the classroom. I thank the Lord regularly for the time these professors invested in my character.

How has NSA shaped your worldview or perspective on life?
First and foremost, NSA taught me to put first things first. It taught me to major on the majors and minor on the minors. It taught me how to properly order my loves and frequently motivated me to do so. It also dismantled my naive understanding of complex issues while correcting my overly complicated view of simple issues.

In what ways are you currently shaping culture, or working towards shaping culture?
I am no CEO. I have no large ministry. I don’t post on Twitter. However, I am working to be the sort of man whose faithfulness will bless my great-great-grandchildren. I am still in the investment phase of my education and only anticipate a great return on this investment down the road. That said, Veritas Surgery is certainly on the forefront of culture-shaping. If you’ve had to pursue medical treatment in the last twenty years, you have likely experienced the fraud inherent in the administrative side of healthcare delivery. Leaving Christopher Duntsch aside, no medical student sets out intending to harm patients. However, significant financial incentives shoehorn physicians into an insurance-hospital system that can legally be classified as a cartel. Veritas Surgery is one of the only surgical groups in the nation to bypass that system entirely, standing at the cutting edge of free-market medicine.

What are some key lessons or skills you gained from your time at NSA?
A key skill I learned is that of Observation and Theory—or Inference to the Best Explanation. For any given phenomenon, there are the raw data points that make it up, as well as the interpretive framework needed to weave those data points into the “real world.” For example: your friend avoids eye contact with you at the coffee shop (observation). Why? She hates you (theory). Or perhaps she was simply tired that morning (theory). Or perhaps she simply didn’t see you (yet another theory). This way of dividing the world around me has proven very helpful time and time again.

Looking back, what educational advice would you give to someone considering their options today?
It would entirely depend on the student in question, but if I were chatting with my eighteen-year-old self, I’d ask him two questions: First, I’d want to know what sort of man he hopes to be in twelve years, and whether he—when he’s falling asleep at night and being truly honest with himself—believes that rushing into a vocational program (engineering, architecture, veterinary medicine) will help him become that man. Second, I’d ask him—because he was quite concerned with being unique—which path is less traveled: the state university near his parents’ home, or the college pursuing the kind of education that, for centuries, trained the men and women who are, in the long run, responsible for the respect most professions enjoy today and which modern research universities can no longer sustain? What sort of craftsman does he want to be?

How has your relationship with NSA evolved since graduation?
By remaining in Moscow for another year, I have the luxury of attending various NSA-sponsored events. From Hale Institute lectures and NSA concerts to meeting with current students and occasionally sitting in on a class, it has been a blessing to remain in close proximity to the college.