It’s only been ten years since Samantha Townley was looking forward to her graduation from Valparaiso High School, ready to enjoy her college years.
I have to be honest and admit her way of enjoying college was somewhat different from mine. Samantha’s fun was doing undergraduate research to find more ways to make our lives better by discovering ways to stop diseases, or discover vaccines to immunize us against them.
Just in the last month, this overwhelmingly intelligent young lady received her doctorate in Microbiology. The excitement in her voice when she talks about the research projects she is part of is almost catching, even though it’s way above my head.
Much of her research is conducted through the armed forces, as they continue to find ways for military personnel to protect themselves from such diseases as Ebola, Zika and other viruses they may encounter when deployed around the world. A great deal of research continues to someday halt HIV.
Each new project has failures, but in those failures something new is always learned and keeps researchers going forward. To Samantha, it is fun and a pleasure to continue to take new approaches to combating disease.
Although this may sound far out, some of her research even includes studying species that can regenerate a missing body part. This research is extremely important to the military, since so many of our veterans lose limbs when serving our country. Who knows? Not too many years ago, space travel and the technology available today was unheard of and far out.
Samantha is such an amazing person, and is now part of the research team at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington, D.C. which is under the U.S. Department of Defense. This research facility houses the very top distinguished research doctors in the country, and it is such a wonder to have a student from our community involved in helping our soldiers (and ultimately all of us) be treated for the many diseases they encounter.
In my talk with Samantha, I learned more science than I did in any class. I could write pages on all the information she offered. But she complimented the Valparaiso High School staff for giving her the opportunities to advance her learning and for “pushing” her.
Samantha, I’m sure they are as proud of you as you are of them, and I pray that you and your team of researchers is successful in finding new ways to eliminate and control disease. Thank you for my “class.” You are my pet person of the week for using your God-given talents for the good of humanity.
There is another person I have on a pedestal. His name is Brent, and at 42 he still is involved in Special Olympics, which he has been a part of since he was 8.
Brent began working at Costas (now Strack and VanTil) when he was in high school, and has been a valuable employee for 26 years. His school life revolved around friends in Special Olympics, as he was not a part of the regular education students.
He is a fantastic young man, and was the first Porter County athlete to be an ALPs leader, was the athlete member of the Special Olympics Indiana State board for two terms, was chosen as a global messenger and was the voice of Indiana at conferences in San Francisco, Morocco, and Vancouver.
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Brent has the honor of having been the first-ever athlete to be chosen as a coach for National Games. In 2014, he was the head coach for bocce, and also coaches bowling and basketball.
Just like with Samantha, I could write a book on this great guy, but I’ll just let you know him by through one of the poems he wrote many years ago.
You see me walking around and you think you know me
But do you know me at all, or am I just another face in the crowd.
Have you walked in my shoes? Have you felt the heartache when I felt the blues?
Am I a statistic, or am I realistic? Do I count for something, or do I count for nothing?
You say you showed me all the cards in life, but have you turned over a card? It’s a king, and I know what I want out of life.
Have you walked in my shoes, Have you felt the heartache when I had the blues?
If not, you’re the one who loses.
I hope you can see inside Brent’s heart, and I hope you have a great day because you deserve it. Thanks for reading. Fly your flag.
Lorrie Woycik is a freelance columnist for the Post-Tribune.