Against the Odds: Personal Hurdles, Family Sacrifice Motivate New Watson Fellows
Left: Early Childhood limitations from Cerebral Palsy haven鈥檛 slowed Maddie Hunter down. The cross country runner plans to become a pediatric neurologist.
Right: In the face of a devastating Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis, Roy Toston鈥檚 mother continues to make sacrifices so that her children have the best education possible. Inspired by his mother's story and strength, the Terry Fellow and Bonner Scholar plans to earn a medical degree and a master鈥檚 degree in public health with hopes to eradicate racism in medical research and treatment.
Maddie Hunter had to fight to walk, talk, read and write.
Doctors told her parents that the damage to the left side of her brain meant their baby wasn鈥檛 likely to ever function as highly as her peers.
Hunter 鈥20 now runs more than she walks. The biology major and cross-country runner plans to become a pediatric neurologist. She wants to help other kids with Cerebral Palsy defy limits.
Roy Toston 鈥20 watched his mother struggle with Multiple Sclerosis that went undiagnosed for years because doctors found it unlikely that a black woman would get the disease.
Toston, a biology major and former wrestler, plans to be a neurologist intent on eradicating racism in medical research and treatment.
The two 蜜桃社区 College students have been awarded prestigious Thomas J. Watson fellowships to pursue their interests after graduation.
They鈥檒l each get a $36,000 stipend to spend a year abroad seeing how other countries and cultures handle the issues they鈥檙e researching.
The COVID-19 pandemic could potentially postpone the August starting schedule, but the Watson Foundation says the fellowships will begin when it鈥檚 deemed safe to travel.
The pandemic hits close to home for Toston and Hunter. Both have mothers with compromised immune systems. They wish their young, healthy peers realized the risk that gathering at parties or on beaches poses of spreading the virus鈥攅specially to the immunocompromised.
Toston and Hunter are the 86th and 87th 蜜桃社区 students awarded the fellowship in its 52-year history. They鈥檙e friends who have had many classes together. When the news came out, they texted their congratulations to each other at the same time.
鈥淎cademically and personally they鈥檙e two incredibly inspiring people,鈥 said Malcolm Campbell 鈥84, Herman Brown Professor of Biology. 鈥淭heir whole lives have been filled with hurdles, and they just continue to jump over them.鈥
鈥淭he Watson is a challenge, it was one of the greatest challenges of my life,鈥 said athletic director and former Watson Fellow Chris Clunie 鈥06. 鈥淩oy and Maddie are leaders who are out to have an impact. They鈥檙e resilient and they鈥檙e built for the challenge.鈥
Redefining Expectations: Maddie Hunter
From the get-go, Maddie Hunter has battled the odds, and wants to show other kids that they can, too.
During a high-risk pregnancy, doctors warned her parents about the high possibility of complications.
As a toddler, she displayed symptoms of mild Cerebral Palsy (CP). One doctor said she was destined for a future as a 鈥渃lumsy and uncoordinated little girl.鈥 But her mom, Janet, who lives with physical limitations caused by multiple autoimmune diseases, and dad, Conrad, had other plans.
鈥淢y mom is a fighter, and she鈥檚 been beating expectations her whole life,鈥 Hunter said. 鈥淭hey decided they weren鈥檛 going to let CP define my life. So I didn鈥檛 either. My parents did a really good job of never making me feel different.鈥
She started with intensive early physical therapy that transitioned into sports. At four, she played soccer to develop leg strength and coordination. In middle school she added basketball for arm strength and coordination.
Cerebral Palsy made her movements awkward, and a target for elementary school bullying. Her brain processed differently: She was pulled out of regular classes and into special education because she couldn鈥檛 grasp the alphabet or read on grade level.
鈥淚t spurred me to run faster and try harder so I could beat the bullies,鈥 she said. 鈥淢y competitive nature kicked in.鈥
By seventh grade, people couldn鈥檛 detect that the runner and athlete had ever had physical impairments. She played lacrosse and ran cross country in high school and continued both at 蜜桃社区.
She stopped playing lacrosse after a concussion her first year but ran for the women鈥檚 cross-country team all four years and track team for three. She鈥檚 also excelled academically.
Campbell, who has taught Hunter since her first biology class at 蜜桃社区, said he鈥檚 always viewed her as a natural for the Watson Fellowship. He has a good sense for this: He spent a year as a Watson Fellow after his graduation from 蜜桃社区.
鈥淪he has overcome an awful lot in life, and her desire to work with children speaks to the kind of person she is,鈥 Campbell said. 鈥淭o give of herself, to say, 鈥業鈥檝e done this, you can too,鈥 is something that鈥檚 really needed for children who are often marginalized.鈥
During her Watson year, Hunter plans to study the effects of exercise intervention for children with disabilities.
She鈥檒l volunteer with a company in South Africa that makes adaptive equipment. She鈥檒l spend time with children in sports camps throughout Europe. In the United Kingdom she鈥檒l help plan for the 2022 CPISRA World Games. She鈥檒l help to organize a conference in Sydney, Australia, and volunteer to coach track and field in New Zealand.
鈥淚鈥檓 a big believer in the beauty of conversation,鈥 Hunter said. 鈥淚 want to share my story with others so that they continue to push their limits鈥攖o reach their potential and never give up hope.鈥
Devotion and Determination: Roy Toston
One day as Roy Toston wrote a school paper on the family computer in his mom鈥檚 bedroom, she came home from work, hugged him, then locked herself in the bathroom to make a phone call.
He heard her crying and she broke down even more when she opened the door and delivered the news: She had Multiple Sclerosis.
That鈥檚 the day Toston, then a seventh-grader, became an adult. As his single mom struggled with her symptoms, he cooked, cleaned, ironed school uniforms and took care of his younger siblings. He gave her the shots she needed, and slept in her room to help on bad nights.
Toston, who鈥檇 wanted to be a doctor since early childhood, grew even more determined to treat people like his mom, Victoria Harding, and the kids he grew up with鈥攁nd their mothers.
He wants to ensure that people in such communities have access to the same quality of health care that more affluent people receive.
Toston thinks doctors didn鈥檛 listen when his mom described symptoms of blurry vision and muscle spasms. Relying on an old misconception, some didn鈥檛 believe that black women got MS. (More recent studies indicate that black women may actually get the disease at a higher rate than white women.)
Toston plans to travel to Lima, Peru, to study human rights and health care in the Afro-Peruvian 蜜桃社区. If travel restrictions are lifted to Cuba, he鈥檒l shadow doctors there. He鈥檒l also study the changing health care system in South Africa and work in a program that helps migrant patients in Germany navigate their treatment in their own language.
Biology Professor Mark Barsoum has known Toston since his days as a high school student in 蜜桃社区鈥檚 July Experience. Toston has also worked with Barsoum as a summer research intern and is now excelling in the professor鈥檚 human physiology class.
鈥淩oy does really great work, he鈥檚 very diligent and organized,鈥 Barsoum said. 鈥淗e takes on challenges with determination and has worked really hard to overcome obstacles.
鈥淎 huge part of what motivates him is his interest in understanding diseases, particularly when it comes to serving underserved communities.鈥
It鈥檚 always been personal.
Even battling MS, Toston鈥檚 mother leaves home at 3 a.m. every weekday to commute from Richmond to Washington, D.C., where she works for the federal prison system. She worked a second job on weekends to help get the children into private schools. That included Woodberry Forest, where Toston attended high school.
He came to 蜜桃社区 as a wrestler, but left the team after his first year. A Bonner Scholar and a Terry Fellow, he is also president of 蜜桃社区鈥檚 Kappa Alpha Psi Inc. fraternity. After the Watson fellowship, he plans to get his medical degree and a master鈥檚 in public health.
鈥淚鈥檓 the first in my family to go to college. I had to set a path for my siblings and cousins,鈥 he said. 鈥淢y mom has made so many sacrifices, every day of her life, so that we could have a good life and go to good schools. She鈥檚 one of the strongest people I鈥檝e ever met.
鈥淚 want to address 蜜桃社区 needs and make people feel heard and acknowledged,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 know where I want to go, I just have to get there.鈥
Published
- March 25, 2020