Fleeing Latvia
“I think my mom passed away five years ago and that really changed my perspective on the world...My mom always played piano her whole life, up until she died, and she was a really good pianist. Her family fled Latvia in 1941 when she was two because it was sort of sandwiched right in between Germany and Russia. At the time the Germans were coming in from the West and Stalin was coming in from the...
Trish Morris: Inspiration and Friend
Breast cancer survivor and a true testament to the human spirit, Trish Morris has a positive outlook on the rest of her life. When Trish was 46 years old, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. This “changed my outlook on life.” Although it’s hard to imagine someone going through such a tough time it’s clear that she is making the most out of the rest of her life. “This is so gravy! I hope...
“I’m determined to live as fully as I can for as long as I can”
Erin Armstrong, 39, is more than a cancer patient. For one, she is an attorney committed to fighting for women’s reproductive rights. For another, she is an inspiration, someone with a deeply fascinating story that begins not in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but in Hot Springs, Arkansas. “I only have a very vague memory-- sort of snapshot memories-- of that time. I must have been about three years...
An Appreciation for Life
Maylin Murray Krezan '21 is a student at Bosque School in Albuquerque. “The saddest moment of my life was when I was going through a breakup, but there were periods in my life when I was sadder. I had a really hard time in middle school, and I got sent to the hospital for my mental health. It was scary because you’re there without people, you know. I was in there for about a week. It definitely...
Art vs. the World
Albuquerque Academy art teacher, Orlando Leyba, wants to change the world with his art. His specific experiences in his younger years shaped his growth as an artist and influenced his life’s moments, the first influential moment in his life beginning as a young boy and working tediously on his grandfather’s ranch in Northern New Mexico. “A real distinct memory I have is working with my grandfather....
One Step at a Time
In between 8th and 9th grade, Liam Lambie ‘21 had knee surgery due to an underlying condition. “It was repetitive stress to the Cartilage on the backside of my kneecap and the medical term for it was [an] Extreme Posterior Lateral Osteochondral Femoral Condyle Fracture and there's literally only one surgeon in the United States who could actually do that surgery successfully and [it] still only...
Being an ICU Director in a Pandemic
I asked Erik Kraai how being director of a medical ICU during the COVID-19 affected him professionally, emotionally, and on a day-to-day basis, outside of work: When asked about the emotional toll the pandemic has taken on him and his coworkers, Erik said, “It’s hard to separate [the emotional effect of COVID as someone in the ICU] from the overall anxiety of the whole thing that we're all going...
Rectum Realization
Jett Facey has become a good friend over this summer and has become one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met. He’s currently a senior at Soka University, class of 2022, and is an Academy alumnus. Jett is one of those people who can talk to anyone and has a +4 charisma modifier for you DnD fans. He’s an original. For example, there was a day this summer when he decided that he was going...
Wild Times To Father Life
Reilly White “My mom was very difficult, the day before they were married, my step-father found out she was undergoing felony charges for stealing 7000 dollars worth of checks, money, and an elaborate credit card scheme from her place of employment, which was also my step-father’s, a ski shop in Cleveland, OH. My step-father had a choice to go through with the marriage even though he didn't...
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