Jacob McCullough has not stopped learning since he stepped foot in Rock Bridge High School four years ago. He has taken many AP and honors classes and used his time to progress in his knowledge of medicine. He is focused on and looking to his future with every step he takes.
Q: What classes are you taking at Rock Bridge this year, and why did you sign up for them?
A: “AP Stat, AP Bio, AP Lit, Medical Interventions, German 3 and the three block Professions in Healthcare class. I signed up for them because I am interested in going into healthcare and medicine.”
Q: How do you think these classes will help you in the future?
A: “I think that all of them [have helped] but specifically the Professions in Healthcare class was a really great experience. [It got me to see that] I really do like this, and I really do feel comfortable going into this.”
Q: Where are you going to college and what are you going for?
A: “I’m going to UMKC School of Medicine’s six-year BA/MD program for Bachelor of Arts and [a] Medical Doctorate.”
Q: When did you know that you first wanted to go [into] the medical field?
A: “When I was younger, my mother was diagnosed with cancer and seeing how people helped her through that and the process behind that gave me that early exposure, and then [I] just kind of pursued a sense.”
Q: What field of medicine are you looking to go into?
A: “Well, of course, a lot of people change their minds, so I wouldn’t set myself in stone, [but I] at least [want] to keep doors open for myself. But I am interested in oncology because [of] the ways to approach things and just the experience I had with it.”
Q: What do you do in your free time?
A: “I really just try to find interesting things to get into. It’s not something set in stone. If I’m not at home, [I] just [entertain] myself with a movie or [a] video game or something. I try to find people that I know and just do random things in public usually. That’s a lot of fun.”
Q: How do you plan to balance your college life with your education?
A: “Well, I don’t, but if you’re really asking, […] it’s more of the same, getting out on campus [and] doing things. I know the specific campus, [and] there’s not many people who are on campus, but I’ll be one of the few people who are required to [live on campus]. So during down times, I’m pretty sure we’ll make up a high proportion, like the people with[in] my interest group, [of just] exploring [things].”
Q: Do you plan to [get] a job or internship during college?
A: “To the degree that I can, maybe. But I’m also going to be having summer semesters in the program, so I won’t really have any extended breaks to do that. I’ll be taking a pretty heavy course load. So I’ll see if I can fit it in, but that’s one of those things [where] the schoolwork’s going to come first, just because I’m trying to do something that makes you take a lot of credits.”
Q: Who or what has inspired you the most in your life?
A: “It’s a hard question. I think that, just in general, the idea of community and the fact that I’ve seen so many communities that have gone through things, and they made it out the other side, but at the same time support each other. I think that’s inspiring because as people, we live in a society that’s increasingly individualistic, increasingly isolative, and I think that if we are going to make the world a better place, as so many people say, we need to work together. So I’m inspired whenever I see communities of people working together, whether that’s a friend group or whether that’s the entire city of Columbia doing something. I think that seeing everybody working together is inspiring to me.”
Q: Doctors have a lot of roles. They can save lives, diagnose things, cure things. They can have a community and work with them. They can do things like that. What about the medical field is inspiring to you?
A: “I think that it’s like the altruistic undertone of it. The idea that everything that you do is eventually going to work towards a common good, even if people do have things to gain for themselves from it. And people, of course, like any career, there’s aspects of it that are just inevitable that aren’t necessarily leading towards a bigger picture. But I think the idea that everything you do, eventually, if you’re doing it right, leads back into helping a broader sense of humanity. You don’t [necessarily] do something just for yourself. […] You’re improving, again communities, at least to the best of your ability. You’re also doing something that’ll hopefully touch more people than just yourself.”
Q: What is your favorite class [of the ones you are taking] in terms of content and fun?
A: “I think that a lot of classes I’ve taken have given me a better understanding [of] people in general, and I know that should always be our goal. [With my German class], I think that a good part of learning any language is learning about more cultures and societies outside of your own, and understanding that people do differ. Even if I don’t know or think I’ll ever be a part of that culture necessarily, it’s still good to learn how people can differ and how people can vary […], and how I can work those lessons into my life. So I’m getting to learn about different people’s great[ness] in this class. I’ll say that taking statistics online, which I had to do because of a scheduling conflict, hasn’t been as much of that. […] There’s a lot of good time in the lab in MI. There’s a lot of good contact experience in PIH, PHC, wherever you stylize it. […] The only [other] more classical classroom experiences have been AP Bio [and] AP Lit. I really like the subject matter in AP Bio, and I just get along with the people in AP Lit. So I like all the classes. I think that they all bring something unique. I don’t know, it’s kind of hard to say. I think that as a senior, specifically, I’ve just grown so much with all the people in every single class that I have. That’s really hard to say. I don’t like a specific class because when you’re with people that you know and people that you like to be around, you’re never really going to dislike what you’re doing.”
