Finding Fulfillment in School and in Life
Mica McGinley-Smith ’23 didn’t leave much room for free time at Kimball Union. From varsity baseball to Orange Key tour guide to student leader—he embraced every aspect of the classroom and campus life in equal measure. Now a student at Emory University, he's combining a love of sports and the outdoors with a passion for medicine and helping others.
We asked the Vermont native to share his path from KUA to where he is today.
Tell us what you’ve been doing outside of college.
MMS: I got my EMT license, and this is my first summer applying a lot of what I learned working in the back of the ambulance with Golden Cross. I also work on a wilderness response team helping with search and rescues. We’re a 24-7, call-out agency that responds to missing persons or hikers in distress. We serve a broad range that extends from New Hampshire to the Canadian border. I’ve also been conducting research as an intern with a doctor in a neurology lab at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. We’re looking at innovative, deep-brain stimulations as solutions for issues with PTSD.
How does this impact your professional path?
MMS: I plan to pursue a career in medicine, I’m just not entirely sure which direction yet. I really enjoy emergency medicine and sports medicine and lot of the neuroscience stuff—neurology is interesting to me. I’ve also been working at a lot of races and running events. I’m seeing such a cool connection between this love of sports medicine and emergency medicine.
Have you always been interested in medicine?
MMS: I was inspired by one of the first classes I took at KUA that got me interested in the human body and medicine, which was Mrs. Burrough’s “Anatomy and Physiology I” class. I took it my sophomore year and it just fascinated me. There was always an appetite for more.
How does research compare to hands-on work?
MMS: My first big research project was through KUA’s Cullman Scholarship Program, where I went to South Florida to study bonefish. That got me interested in the concept of research and gave me a great opportunity to dip my toes in professional research. I also did some research on spiney lobsters in the Bahamas during my semester abroad. I had done a little bit of research before, but this was my first time experiencing medical research and I’ve loved it. It feels as though I’m making a difference and learning things that you can experience only outside of the classroom.
This seems a lot to manage. How do you keep up?
MMS: There’s real power in doing what you love and what brings fulfillment but also knowing when it’s time to take your foot off the gas. So many people, especially student-athletes, are struggling with mental health because there’s such a pressure to perform both in the classroom and on the field. At Emory, I started a chapter of an organization called the Hidden Opponent to reduce the stigma of talking about your mental health. I’ve found fulfillment in being able to provide an outlet and a chance for people to get involved and improve their mental health.
Speaking of resources, how did the Learning Center at KUA benefit you as a student?
MMS: I embraced the Learning Center as I saw it as an opportunity to grow and not just a place to go if I was struggling. Working with the amazing and supportive faculty there helped me build important skills such as time management, organization, and test-taking strategies. With time, this made me more independent and confident as a student, since I learned how to plan ahead, manage stress, and advocate for myself more effectively. This essential learning not only set me up for success at KUA but also beyond in college.
One of the best parts was that I never felt any stigma in using the Learning Center. At KUA, it was truly part of the culture for students to take advantage of all the resources available and grow as a learner and a person. Instead of being seen as remedial, the Learning Center was a place where people went to challenge themselves and get better, and I’m grateful I leaned into that opportunity.
How else did KUA help prepare you for your next steps?
MMS: Not only does KUA do a great job of teaching students how to study and manage their time, but I think one of the biggest things for me was learning how to ask for help. It’s important to be able to go up to a teacher and be like, ‘Hey, I was wondering if we could sit down for half an hour and talk about what we just learned today.’ That was totally acceptable and common at KUA, but I realized in college that so many people didn’t have that experience at their high school.
KUA gave me so much freedom to explore and surrounded me with teachers and students who had the same ferociousness for learning. It creates such a cool environment not only for classes, but also as a setting where teachers care about supporting you and what you love and really help you grow in whatever direction you want.
