Allison Justice A.S. Degree, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and A.A. Degree/ University Transfer Florida Community College, Class of 2008

Heart of Gold

Allison Justice
Florida Community College, Class of 2008

Not many pre-med students can claim to have saved lives even before they receive their bachelor’s degree. Florida Community College student Allison Justice can. While serving as a flight medic for the Florida Army National Guard 1-111th Air Ambulance in Iraq, Allison flew to the rescue of soldiers whose vehicle had been struck by a roadside bomb about 60 miles south of Baghdad.

While one soldier lost his life in the incident, several others were wounded. Allison’s Black Hawk helicopter crew flew them to a Baghdad hospital where their long treatment and recovery began. The soldiers were members of the Kansas National Guard, and Allison was subsequently awarded the Kansas National Guard’s Medal of Excellence for her service.

Today, Allison is pursuing her goal to become a physician. “After completing my A.A. at FCCJ,” she said, “I intend to transfer to Jacksonville University or the University of North Florida to finish my B.S. in biology. My ultimate goal is to go on to medical school and study the heart. I hope to learn enough to save many lives due to heredity. Much of my family has coronary artery disease, and I have learned that, in many people, it is hereditary.”

Born and raised in Jacksonville, Allison has already earned an associate degree in emergency medical services, with honors, from FCCJ and hopes to complete her bachelor’s degree by 2010.

“FCCJ is more student-friendly than the big universities,” Allison said. “I feel like a person instead of a number. The classes are small, and the instructors have a human touch. Many university instructors don’t care that an older student doesn’t have his or her parents providing for them in college.”

She thinks others would benefit from following her example. “I encourage every high-school student to attend a two-year college to get a feel for the paperwork involved, atmosphere and cost. For high-school students, the more you know, the easier the first few years’ classes will be.”

With her valuable medical experience and further training to come, Allison’s ultimate dream is to become a physician. Regardless of where her future takes her, she has already been a life saver to soldiers in Iraq.

Read more about Allison’s service in Iraq and her reunion with the soldiers she helped to save.