LIBERTY, Mo. — Anthony Garcia has always dreamed of being a trauma physician for the military, and he’s getting closer to making that dream a reality.
The Liberty North senior is the first in his family to go to college. Next fall he’s headed to John Hopkins University to study medicine.
“Right now I really want to go into the military side of trauma medicine,” Anthony said. “The ability to serve the men who serve us — it’s always been a dream of mine.”
The grandson of a Vietnam veteran, Anthony said there’s nothing in this world he’d rather do.
“Love the thought of serving my country,” the 17-year-old said.
We caught up with Anthony inside his science class where he was working on a research project focused on cancer treatments.
“The manipulation of Ubiquitin is a possible treatment for cancer,” he explained.
Anthony calls himself driven. His teachers call him tenacious.
“He’s highly intelligent, but he also has a tremendous work ethic,” said Brittan Wilson, a science teacher at Liberty North High. “He works hard in everything he does.”
That’s everything, from being a member of the National Hispanic Recognition Program, to volunteering more than 200 service hours at metro hospitals, to being the president of Health Occupation Students of America, where he helps mentor the 130 members in his school.
“Everything I do, I try to go as far as I can, and I don’t try to stop half way with anything I do,” Anthony said.
He’s a real go-getter. Take this summer for instance.
“I had a hole in my lung,” he said.
His lung collapsed at the dinner table. He had emergency surgery and spent a week in the hospital. Four days after being released, he was at school for the first day of the new school year.
Anthony is also an AP scholar with honors and has led several fundraisers for a program that provides supplies to a health post in Nepal. In the fall, his peers also chose him as homecoming king.
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