Project Pre Med

Hello! My name is Noah A. Cozzie,

I am a 21 year old college student with positive, sophisticated and high reaching ambitions, yet little financial power to peruse them. I am not here to tell you a sad or tragic story; I am here to share with you my ambition that has grown into the passion I have today.

With that being said, let me tell you a true story about my life up to this point.

I grew up going from one small town to another, always moving. My parents got divorced when I was four and with that I had a very distinct and binary childhood.
When I was fourteen, my family moved to a place called Baker, Nevada; population roughly 150. This little town is located right next to Great Basin National Park, the least visited national park in the country, just a few miles West of the Utah border. The nearest Walmart is 70 miles away, and with my high school combining grades 7-12, we had less then 50 students.

What I then thought would be a life damming prison sentence in the desert would now begin to be one of the best things that ever happened to me.





While I was going to this school, I had opportunities that many cannot claim of a typical high school experience. My friends and I started the school’s first Track & Field team, along with a Cross-Country team. Within a year of training with old equipment and dirt roads, we were Region Champions, making a name for ourselves in the process. I also had the opportunity to travel the country with our award winning concert choir, something you probably wouldn’t expect from a school that doesn’t even show up on Google. I graduated alongside a whopping seven classmates in 2013, and somehow I got through maintaining at least a 3.5 GPA. Flash forward for a moment; of this seven, only three of us are still enrolled in a college at this point.

Now what?
Many kids who grew up in that small town would never leave. Sure they might go out and get a two-year agriculture degree and then return to work on the family farm, marrying the person they knew since kindergarten in the process. I shockingly discovered this is not what I wanted very quickly.

When I was a boy I remember always wanting to be a firefighter, being intrigued by how fire engines worked and the men and women who were exceptionally kind and selfless. I never thought about it seriously again until after I graduated high school. There is the fact that my maternal great-grandfather was a firefighter in New York City back in the day, as well as his father, my great great-granddad, who was the esteemed Fire Marshall in NYC back in his day. And so, it may be is in my blood after all! As well, after seeing how our small town fire department worked, I was hooked and I wanted to learn more.

I found that Utah Valley University (UVU) in Orem, Utah has one of the best Fire and EMS programs in the country. So in the summer of 2013, I applied and was accepted into the college, subsequent program, and then met with counselors to finalize classes. I had my mind set on becoming a Firefighter, Paramedic and then nursing school, maybe medical school someday.

With high hopes and a car packed with so many things that would end up just getting stuffed in a closet, I said goodbye to Baker and made the move to the big city of Orem, Utah. Ok, I know it’s not a metropolis, but it was big enough for me ok?

Where do I stand now?
Two years later I am now a certified Emergency Medical Technical (EMT) and Advanced EMT, along with going through UVU’s paramilitary recruit school and getting certified as a professional Firefighter (FF1, FF2, Hazmat Awareness & Operations, and Wildland FF1). I also have a year of professional working experience as an EMT. With that said, after a couple more semesters I should also have enough credits to complete my Bachelor’s in Emergency Care.





What am I asking for?
Getting to this point wasn’t the easiest. I’ve had to tackle student loans and the inevitable debt that follows, and living in less than comfortable housing with some very questionable roommates. Along with doing multiple unpaid internships, trying to get experience in my field, I've worked full time to pay for it all. Federal financial aid and student loans have been the main reasons I’ve been able to pay for all this schooling so far, and I’m very grateful for them.

However, my financial aid award amount is not enough anymore to cover the classes I need to finish my degree, paramedic school, and move into more advanced medical study. The cost of living here in Orem, UT is also quite high. I already have about $10,000 in loan debt to pay back and I’m not even halfway through college yet.

The financial aid department at my college projected about $23,000 per year for the cost to finish my bachelor’s degree. That figure doesn’t factor in any consecuative years while in nursing or even advancing to  medical school.

My goal is to raise these funds so I can jumpstart a career in giving back to people and making a real, practical difference in lives.
In the upcoming 2-3 years I would like to start a Physician Assistant program at the Univerity of Utah, or look towards a med-school option after taking the MCAT over this next summer.









I have attached pictures of some of my progress so far. I also have all the appropriate documentation and certifications to legitimize everything I’ve stated (email me for them).


Thank you for staying with me and reading this though until the end, I appreciate your time and attention.
-Noah