Eric Evans, Boyle County High School |
Eric Evans has personal experience with medications used to manage autoimmune diseases, but he’s not content to just “cope.”
“There are many kinds of autoimmune diseases,” he said. “It’d be nice to cure them all.”
Evans plans to do just that by studying biomedical engineering at the University of Kentucky and eventually opening his own research facility.
Until then, he’ll continue to face thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease that causes flu-like symptoms.
But Evans has never let the condition slow him down — literally. Along with being a Kentucky Governor’s Scholar and National Youth Science Camp delegate, Evans is a First-Team All-State Cross Country runner and Central Kentucky Conference Outstanding Runner of the Year.
He said he started out as one of the slowest runners in middle school but trained hard and conditioned in the summer to improve his times.
“It’s a sport where it’s obvious who puts in the work, and whoever does will do the best,” he said.
Evans, son of Lyle and Kelly Evans, plans to use the same philosophy of hard work and perseverance to reach his academic and professional goals like role model Bill Gates.
“I hope to live my life like him, and not get caught up in my money, but live a modest and giving life,” he said.
