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Story By Katie Evans• photos by Ed Honda/Herald/Review
SIERRA VISTA — Over the summer, Mariah May got a glimpse into what she would have to do to fulfill her dream of becoming a pediatric neurosurgeon.
“I’m going to be in school for 16 years,” the 13-year-old said with a laugh. “So I’m going to be in school until my mid-30s.”
But, the information May got at a LeadAmerica medical conference, which was held at her dream college — Johns Hopkins University — didn’t deter her, it just gave her a stronger foundation to know what she should be working toward.
 Ed Honda-Herald/Review Lt. Col. M. Kevin May and his daughters Charity May, 10, and Mariah May, 13. Mariah May recently went to a LeadAmerica Conference. |
“It expanded my knowledge of what it takes to become what I want to become,” said the Veritas Christian Community School eighth grader. “I’m looking forward to it, I really am.”
Hearing that makes her father, Lt. Col. Kevin May, smile.
“Mission accomplished,” he said, adding that he hoped the experience would encourage her to work harder.
LeadAmerica is a youth leadership organization that provides teenagers with ethical and principled leadership values, attitudes and skills, a press release from the organization said.
The organization offers conferences in a variety of topics, including science and robotics.
May’s father heard about the organization through May’s cousin, who attended the medical conference as a high schooler.
Wanting to encourage his daughter’s desire to continue working toward a college education, Lt. Col. May thought it would be a great experience.
“I had an idea of what she would experience and I knew that she would appreciate and enjoy it,” he said. “I wanted her to meet like-minded kids in pretty much the same age group.”
Lt. Col. May said he hoped that, by meeting other kids with similar ambitions, it would further May’s desire.
And talking with May, there’s no question she enjoyed it.
“I thought it was actually pretty interesting,” May said, sharing stories of chemistry classes and other activities she participated in. “Most of them (the speakers) were actually pretty captivating.”
During the 10-day conference, May even got a chance to try diagnosing a fictional patient.
“They gave us his symptoms,” May said. “We had to figure out which disease we thought it was.
“We narrowed it down pretty quickly.”
And May said she is now more prepared to pursue her dreams.
“I got tips on advanced classes to take to get into certain colleges,” she said. “What courses would give us so many credits.”
It was May’s first time away from home by herself, and something Lt. Col. May liked about the trip was that it introduced his daughter to people from so many different backgrounds.
“Now she’s seen it at 13 and now she’s not afraid,” he said. “At 13 she now understands more of her world.”
Lt. Col. May said he hopes other parents in the area will see this as an appropriate experience for their kids.
And May’s smile says it all about how the experience affected her.
“Overall it was a really awesome and life-changing experience,” she said. “I definitely want to go back.”
Stephanie Harvey wrote on Aug 27, 2008 9:23 AM:
Marshall may God continue to Bless you and your family.
(Classmate of Lt. M. Kevin May since Steele Elementary School) "