Ontario 鈥淭erry鈥� Lacey
Ontario 鈥淭erry鈥� Lacey (鈥�10 Chemistry) is a testament to what a self-described 鈥渓ate bloomer鈥� can accomplish.
After dropping out of college at the age of 18, he joined the Navy and became an aviation electrician. In his 30s, he finished college and launched a minor-league football career with a championship-winning team. At the age of 40, he graduated from medical school and started his residency in internal medicine at the Naval Medical Center San Diego as a lieutenant.
鈥淚 never rest on what I鈥檝e done in the past,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 use failure and fear of failure as motivation. I鈥檓 always looking ahead to what I want to accomplish.鈥�
Lacey grew up in the Tuxedo housing projects of Birmingham, Alabama, the oldest of four children, raised by his mother and grandmother. He was a gifted student and showed an early aptitude for science and medicine 鈥� an interest stoked by his siblings鈥� battles with sickle cell anemia and experiences working in the lab of University of Alabama Professor Gail Cassell, one of the nation鈥檚 leading infectious disease specialists, now at Harvard University.
Lacey was awarded a prestigious Bausch & Lomb Science Scholarship to the University of Rochester in New York, but adjusting to the foreign environment proved too much for him. He dropped out after a year and returned to Birmingham, where he met his wife and joined the Navy.
Over the next 15 years in the Navy, Lacey moved to New Orleans and California, climbed the ranks to supervisor, welcomed a daughter, and launched a minor-league football career. But he never abandoned his dream of medical school. While on active duty at Naval Base Ventura County/Point Mugu, he enrolled in community college. In 2008, he transferred to CI as a biochemistry major.
鈥淐I was a welcome contrast to my experience at the University of Rochester,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he professors were so approachable and helpful. The campus was beautiful. I loved every minute of my time there. I鈥檓 very proud I graduated from CI. I tell everybody about it.鈥�
Lacey participated in the Louise Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, performed Alzheimer鈥檚 research with Associate Professor of Chemistry Blake Gillespie, played football for the West Coast Sharks and the Inglewood Blackhawks, and graduated cum laude in 2010.
He was recruited by the University of Missouri School of Medicine and enrolled in 2011. There he served on the medical school鈥檚 admission committee for two years, was president of the Student National Medical Association chapter for two years, and received both the Welliver Scholarship in Neurology for Multiple Sclerosis and the American Academy of Family Physicians FHFM summer scholarship.
鈥淚 love internal medicine because it鈥檚 solving a puzzle,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 enjoy interacting with the patients and figuring out how to solve their problems. It鈥檚 just like 鈥楬ouse.鈥欌��
Lacey and his family are pleased to return to California, which feels like home. But Lacey says that鈥檚 not the end of the road for him.
鈥淚鈥檇 like to be the dean of a medical school one day,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f I can come from the projects to where I鈥檓 going, anything is possible.鈥�