All in the Family

The next day, Skyler went to school as normal but forgot his gym clothes at home. When his mother dropped his gym clothes off at school, she advised him to avoid eating and drinking anything for the rest of the day. He would be having surgery that afternoon to drain the infection from his finger––devastating news for a 13-year-old boy with a fear of needles. 

During his prep for surgery, he remembers being overwhelmed and scared, just as any young child would be. That is until his anesthesiologist walked into the room. 

“I just remember him sitting down and talking with me, this really overwhelmed, hormonal child that just wants nothing to do with the medical system at this point in my life,” Skyler said. “The only thing I cared about was that my finger was hurting, I was about to have surgery and I was scared out of my mind. And he just really calmed me down.” 

The anesthesiologist gave Skyler a mask with anesthetic gas and helped him count down from 10. He broke down the complicated process of anesthesia so that a young boy could understand it, which made the process seem less scary. With the reassurance from his anesthesiologist, he felt more prepared for surgery.  

Skyler cites that interaction with this anesthesiologist—and not his physician father—as to why he pursued medicine. “He treated me with such kindness and such empathy,” he said. “It seemed like my life was ending. I was this teenage kid, and for me, it was a big deal. It made me realize I could do that for other people.” 

Since that moment, Skyler has tirelessly prepared himself for medical school.  

A Long Journey 

Following his high school graduation, Skyler went on a mission trip to Sacramento, California, for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He spent his days throughout the next two years serving his church. He had limited contact with his family, only getting 30 to 60 minutes a week to write one email home. While the experience may seem drastically different than his professional goals, he found that it prepared him well for his medical school journey.  
 

“It taught me how to be confident in what I’m doing,” he said. “But it also taught me how to have that personal connection with somebody and to put yourself aside and focus your actions as if you’re living someone else’s life through their perspective.” 

After his mission trip, he earned his bachelor’s degree in medical laboratory sciences from Weber State University, located in Ogden, Utah, in 2019. There, he was president of the medical laboratory sciences club and graduated with a 4.0 GPA. He also spent four years working as an anesthesia tech to gain clinical experience and scored in the 92nd percentile on the MCAT. During this time, Skyler also got married and started a family. 

With all these accomplishments, he seemed like a near-perfect applicant. Yet, when he applied to medical school for the first time, he was met with disappointment. He had applied to 22 schools, received only one interview, and failed to earn an acceptance. He was out almost $3,000 in application fees, and he could feel his childhood dream slipping away. 

“I had to sit and think, ‘Do I want to do this?’” Skyler said. “But I’ve been working toward this goal of medical school for a long, long time. I’ve been doing everything I thought I should do. It came to a point where if I didn’t attend medical school, I don’t know what I would have done because I didn’t plan for that.” 

So, he refused to give up and decided to apply again. 

“By everybody’s first glance, Skyler should have gotten in his first year. Whether it was school selection or essays or luck of the draw, he couldn’t get in that first year,” Skyler’s younger brother, Nathan, said. “But it worked out for the better because the following year we were able to work on everything together.” 

Achieving a Dream 

Nathan, who is two years younger than Skyler, also chose to pursue medical school after he received his undergraduate degree. The two worked together on their applications—Nathan’s first set of applications and Skyler’s second—helping each other study for the MCAT and working on each other’s essays. They each applied to 30 schools, 25 of which overlapped. The latter included 12 schools in Texas, a long way from the brothers’ home of Ogden, Utah. This time, each brother received 10 interview invites. They were accepted to Texas A&M’s College of Medicine.  

Skyler knew he wanted to attend Texas A&M after his admissions interview, where he felt that the faculty believed in him and his potential as a physician. His interviewer asked him why he didn’t get into medical school the previous cycle, and Skyler had truthfully answered he did not know. The next words of his interviewer’s mouth surprised him and made him feel like someone believed in him: “Well, let’s get you in, then.” 

“When I had done other interviews, it was usually a feeling of, ‘Tell me what makes you special,’” Skyler said. “But to have my interviewer almost tell me, ‘You’re special,’ it meant a lot to me and played a big role in why I chose Texas A&M. And I’m so glad I did.” 

His interview with Texas A&M pushed it to the top of Skyler’s list, but it was not the only factor he was considering when choosing schools. Not only did he care about where he got in, but he also hoped to attend medical school alongside his brother if possible.

For Nathan, the feeling was mutual. If the brothers got into the same school, that school would immediately jump to the top of their respective lists, Nathan said. “We would have the opportunity to support each other,” he added. “And I would get the opportunity to watch my nephew and niece grow up.”