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Scholar Spotlight

John Walton, Junior, Community Health Major

Q: Why did you choose a major in the College of Applied Health Sciences?

• I chose the major Community Health in the college of health sciences because I want to be able to find simple ways to improve myself and my community. I am interested in healthcare and felt Community Health would be a great introduction to developing my pathway into higher development of healthcare and medicine.

Q: What other activities are you involved with (fraternity/sorority, sports, clubs, work, etc.)

• I play on the University of Illinois ACHA D2 Hockey team. I am also a part of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) Illinois Beta chapter. I am also a summer hockey camp instructor for my local ice rink where I organize and run a short hockey camp for kids ages 6-12 that focuses on the development of their hockey ability. I also recently became an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician).

Q: What has been the best experience you have had so far at Illinois?

• My best experience at University of Illinois has been meeting new people. I went to a small private high school with about 300 students total and I would see the same people all the time. Now being at a substantially larger school (40,000 students) I see new people each day, and meet new people all the time. I also have been able to make great connections with friends and colleagues that have built everlasting relationships.

Q: What do you enjoy most about being an I-LEAP student?

• What I truly enjoy about I-LEAP is it gives me another great mentor (other than my advisor) that I can go to and talk about any issue I am having with school, or almost anything. I-LEAP also gives me a great opportunity to meet aspiring students like me that have some of the same goals and interests that I have in life.

Q: What are your future goals?

• My future goals involve pursuing graduate education. This includes possibly getting my PH.D in Public Health, going to Medical school, or going to Physician Assistants school. I still am trying to figure out exactly what I want to do, but am making sure that I have set myself up with the options to do any of those three things and more when I graduate.

Q: Any Words of Wisdom that you can share?

• If I had any words of wisdom they would have to be play hard, work harder. I love having a great time going out and playing hockey, but know that the number one priority is school. If fun is coming before school you are doing something wrong. One other thing would have to be that spending that extra 30-60 minutes every day doing a little extra school work can do nothing but help you in being a good steward of your time.