The Can-Do Kid
For as long as he can remember, Will Fagan had wanted to go to work with his mom, a registered nurse at St. Francis Hospital.
“The whole idea of medicine, of being in an emergency room, working out the puzzles and the mysteries, fascinated me. I wanted to be at the hospital with her,” he says.
That wasn’t an option when he was a small child, but once he met the minimum age requirements, Will became a volunteer at the hospital, logging in hundreds of hours in the summer before his freshman year of high school. The satisfaction he felt while working there reaffirmed his commitment to his lifetime goal of becoming a physician.
The James Island Charter High School student currently has a 4.1 GPA and his list of scholastic accolades goes on and on. He plays varsity tennis, has a red belt in kung fu, and serves as a tutor for Spanish and Chemistry.
The strength of his academic record and volunteer hours earned Will a seat in Stanford University’s High School Summer Program, an honor that will earn him several credit hours at one of the nation’s top universities.
The exhilaration of receiving his acceptance letter was counterbalanced by the reality that prestigious programs at top universities come with substantial price tags. Stanford provided a $2,800 scholarship for Will, but that still left almost $9,000 for his family to cover.
A hefty sum, to be sure, but Will was to view obstacles as incentives to work harder.
He immediately set to work raising funds of his own to contribute, put up a web site for donations to the cause, and managed to make it halfway to his goal within a month. His family, including older brother Ben Fagan (lead singer for local band The Plainfield Project and winner of the reality television show Pirate Master), is also helping with the fundraising.
The clock is ticking, but this can-do kid plans to gather the rest of the funds needed to help close the gap between his dream and reality the same way that he approaches every challenge: by simply keeping at it until he succeeds.
Where there’s a Will, there’s a way.
Story and photos by Jason A. Zwiker
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I work with Will’s mother. They are wonderful, down to earth, hard working people. Will will achieve his dreams simply because he is not afraid to work hard for what he needs. I’ve contributed to his Stanford fund because I want to help a real person’s dream come true.
Great pictures! Will is so cool!