There are few people as determined as Spencer. She enlisted in the U.S. Army at age 17 and served in Syria at age 23, deferring a year of her doctorate program. The native of Queens, New York, endured the loss of her mother to cancer and her childhood home to Hurricane Sandy.

Now a staff sergeant, she has one year left to juggle Army Reserve duties with her studies before she graduates and becomes a physical therapist.

“I couldn’t do all of this without the Marist community,” she said, crediting the flexibility of her DPT professors, the Office of Accommodations’ assistance, and Marist’s participation in the GI Bill’s Yellow Ribbon Program for tuition assistance.

“It’s the professors who give me the support to do both study and serve in the military,” she said.

Spencer doesn’t fear challenges or hard work. Her life’s hardships have only strengthened her resolve to make a difference in the world of medicine.

“As a medic in the military, after I patched up a patient, I wouldn’t learn if they made it or walked again. That’s really hard to deal with,” said Spencer. “As a physical therapist, I will get to form longer relationships and see the outcomes.”