SON, MOTHER SHARE USF, MEDICAL LIVES
Adam: Give it your all Adam King has made doing his best the goal ever since he came to USF from Griffith, Ind. in 1998 as a soccer recruit. “If it takes studying for that A or B or extra work on the sports field, you get out of it what you put in. My parents pushed for the hard work,” Adam said. “My senior year, I told myself that to give soccer my all, I needed to stay and train all summer. Then I was named all-conference, all-region, and all-American honorable mention. “I didn’t expect any of it because I set those goals higher than I thought I could achieve. It was the same with the classroom when I became an Academic AllAmerican. That was the best I could do.” His mother, Marsha, steered him toward the medical field post-graduation, and he appreciates the guidance. “She’s the cream of the crop. She’s done it all,” he said. Now a nuclear medicine technologist at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Hobart, Ind., he uses radioactive medicines to detect or treat diseases. He’s still doing his best.
Marsha: A match made in heaven Marsha King had a strong connection with USF before she joined the faculty of USF Crown Point this year to develop its simulation lab. Watching her son Adam play soccer and basketball here was a family routine. “We were very supportive of him and took in any home game we could get to. I was working on my MBA, so I studied during trips to the games. I still remember sitting at the soccer field in the lawn chairs with blankets,” she said. So when her husband suggested contacting USF Crown Point for a teaching position, she didn’t hesitate. A Doctor in Nursing Practice candidate, she discussed possibilities with nursing program director Margaret Stoffregen-DeYoung, and they agreed her doctoral studies dovetailed nicely with the development of USF Crown Point’s simulation lab. “I told her, ‘I feel like God sent you to me,’ and she felt the same way. It’s a match made in heaven for me.” When an initial goal of one simulation per semester was suggested, “I said we’ll do better than that,” King recalled. During the spring semester, two simulations were each presented six times. “They got very good reviews, and prior to end of the semester, I met with core coordinators to decide on fall simulations so I could prepare this summer.” With Adam living and working nearby, they are back together, doing what they love. “I’m so proud of him. He is just really making a difference in patients’ lives,” she said. Photo by Steve Vorderman
“Whatever I can do to make it a little better makes a huge difference to the patient. If I can help an hour or two, I hope someone would do the same for me. My parents have always been that way. You have to be compassionate in healthcare.” - A D A M KIN G , BS ’ 02