埃里卡·肖尔(Erica Scholl)在5岁时就给自己定下了帮助生病儿童的目标.
Her inspiration 17 years ago was a medal of St. Jude that her mother carried with her. When curious young Erica asked about it, her mother explained that St. Jude represented hope. She told Erica about a hospital named after him, 在哪里，即使儿童的家庭负担不起医疗费用，他们也能得到治疗. 埃里卡当时就决定，长大后要成为一名照顾重病儿童的医生.
22岁的肖尔是第一个承认她的目标对她这种情况的孩子来说是一个崇高的目标的人. 她是六个孩子中最小的一个，在一个低收入家庭长大. By the time she was 5, her mother was already disabled from a stroke, and within a few years, 由于车祸和心脏问题，她父亲的健康状况也每况愈下. 在成长过程中，艾丽卡承担了通常只有年纪大的人才会承担的责任. And she had no role model for the particular path she set for herself; though two sisters work in the health field, 她是家里第一个以学士学位和医学院为目标的人.
然而今天，肖尔在改善儿科患者生活的道路上走得很好. 上周，她去的不是别人，正是激励她的机构——圣. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, specifically its Graduate School of Biomedical Science, 她在全国本科生研究研讨会上展示了她的研究成果. Conducted under the guidance of Assistant Professor Nicole Shakerley, Scholl的研究旨在了解抗生素米诺环素的抗炎作用. 她希望这最终能成为她在圣·霍普金斯大学攻读博士学位的一步. 裘德，她今年春天毕业拿到了微生物学学士和分子生物科学硕士学位.
Scholl has changed her mind about pursuing an M.D., seeing herself as more suited to research. But her goal of helping sick children remains; she is specifically interested in pediatric cancer research.
“After coming here (to ACPHS), 我现在认为做研究将对肿瘤学领域产生巨大影响,” she said.
虽然这颗种子在肖尔5岁时就种下了，但她在童年时并没有痴迷于医学. In school, she was just a girl with interests in STEM courses – science, technology, engineering and math. After taking engineering classes in high school, she considered biomedical engineering as a career, but then decided she preferred her original idea of being a doctor. She was always drawn to stories about children faced with challenging medical conditions; they would pop up on her social media feeds, and she would follow them.
虽然聪明且适合STEM，但肖尔并不像某些科学神童那样自然地吸收材料. She worked hard to earn her grades, according to Jordan Purinton, 她在Herkimer县南部的法兰克福- schuyler初中/高中的工程老师, an area of mostly farm country dotted by small villages. 普林顿回忆说，肖尔经常在学校的图书馆学习，直到图书馆关闭, 然后去镇上的图书馆待到图书馆还开着为止.
“她的职业道德是我所见过的学生中最优秀的，”普林顿说. “We still tell our current students about her.”
Scholl understood early on her need for adult guides. She had encouragement and emotional support from her family, she said, but they could not steer her down a path they had never traveled. In her close-knit school, 从幼儿园到12年级的学生不到1000人在同一个校园里, Scholl made deep connections with her teachers. She remains in regular touch with Purinton and nine others, and keeps a photo of them on display in her ACPHS dorm room.
When it came time to look for college, 肖尔很清楚自己想要什么:一所小学校，在那里她会被认识和支持. A campus within two hours from home. The opportunity to participate in athletics. The chance to develop leadership skills through clubs and activities. Academically, at the time, she was looking at pre-med courses. 当她在谷歌上搜索时，ACPHS是第一个跳出来的大学，符合她的所有标准.
She visited campus and it felt right. Her father told her she looked like a kid in a candy store.
“I just really pictured myself here studying,” Scholl said, eating lunch outside the Gozzo Student Center earlier this fall. “My dad was like, ‘Erica, I think this is where you’re going.’”
肖尔对自己的选择非常确定，她只申请了ACPHS. If she did not get in, 她将报名参加社区大学，并找到另一种方式参加医学预科课程, she said. (She did, obviously, get in, 有了奖学金和经济援助，她才能去上学.)
这并不是说她总是对自己的成功能力充满信心. 起初，肖尔担心与那些在成长过程中获得更多资源的学生一起学习.
事实上，在大学的第一学期，严谨的学术对她来说是一个挑战. 跟上课程进度的努力是高中的一次转变, when instruction on challenging topics would be repeated. 她以一种特有的方式回应了她最初的低分——在她需要帮助的地方寻求帮助. She talked to her professors. She enlisted tutors and tried alternate study methods. She studied every day.
She is especially grateful to Dr. Shakerley和Meenakshi Malik教授帮助她度过了那段时间.
她说:“这两位教授真的帮助我成为了今天的学生。. “They have always believed in me and never gave up on me.”
由于她的努力和她得到的支持，肖尔的成绩上升了很多. She finished her undergraduate degree in microbiology with a 3.5 grade point average and is so far maintaining a 4.0 in her master’s coursework.
尽管面临挑战，肖尔从未想过要放弃这一切.
“我不会放弃，”她说，并解释说她从父母那里学到了这种态度. “Life is hard. 但这并不意味着你要停止做你相信的事情，停止做你设定的目标.”
Sticking with ACPHS has been a good decision, Scholl said. 她与教授和顾问建立了有意义的联系，就像她早年与老师建立的联系一样. And she has taken advantage of every opportunity to learn, engage and develop, including participation in student government, basketball and track, and, naturally, the Pinky Swear PACK to promote awareness of pediatric cancer.
“我来到这里，我很害羞，我不知道我的旅程将会走向何方，”肖尔说. “五年后，我所看到的和我希望我能做到的，都实现了.”
The opportunity to go to St. 裘德儿童研究医院上周的工作是通过与. Shakerley. 作为全国仅有的52名有机会展示他们研究成果的学生之一, Scholl described the experience as “incredible.”
当肖尔谈到她的经历时，她表达了兴奋和感激，但从不吹嘘. She was hesitant to share her story widely. 她同意做一些宣传，这样其他年轻人就可以从她的榜样中受益.
这就是她说她想让他们听到的信息:“不管你来自哪里——不管你是低收入者, middle class, had a difficult childhood. You can still go off and pursue your dreams.
“Don’t give up, anything’s possible.”