Joshua Travers, Medicine
"I want to be remembered for making a big positive change in a lot of people’s lives"
By Marcinho Savant
When you first encounter twenty-two-year-old Joshua Travers, you wouldn’t immediately see an earnest, young, black man with an unquenchable thirst for exploring stacks of history books. As a child, he describes himself as the “weird kid”--- at least in the eyes of his peers. He wore glasses. He was skinny, awkward, and walked a tense line between being an introvert, and an extrovert who didn’t quite find his groove. It led to a very early onset of anxiety and depression.
Born in Shreveport, with both parents in the home, Joshua has a twin, two elder sisters, local to the area, and a half-sister. It was a home, like many others, with challenges. This feature, however, is about the man, not his relatives, so we choose not to detail his account of his household. Suffice it to say, that many of us have experienced much the same matters.
By high school, he made better friends... Like many kids, he was picked on there too, but mostly pranks, and jokes. The height of his anxiety emerged in high school. He was often bullied, and harassed at school --- which he strove through, and overcame. A self-possessed, diligent, reliable young man today, he seems none the worse for wear.
He credits himself for surpassing a challenging home environment, peer pressure, and self-doubt--- paving the way for him to aspire to be a light in the world. He says that, in spite of his obstacles, he is a self-made man. He said he wanted to look out for other people, and help them to find their way.
He has made many mistakes over the years, such as earning poor grades, repeating a year, taking on too-large an, accelerated, academic load, and allowing self-doubt to injure his drive and confidence. That, evidently, is the Joshua of old.
These days, he finds discipline through martial arts, and masters chivalry through history and reading. His reflection on his failures helped him learn that he could always be better, and a change occurred. He suddenly gained an optimistic outlook. Martial arts were a further escape from anxiety and depression, by mastering one, demanding, thing at a time. He also unearthed a heightened focus with a desire to get something better for himself by way of achievement.
He applied his new-found lessons to life, practiced self-evaluation, and redirection going forward. “I should focus on making things better in my life. If it wasn’t for the martial arts, I wouldn’t have had a way to prioritize what was important to me. One tool that helped me focus was mastering intricate techniques”, he said.
Born in Shreveport, with both parents in the home, Joshua has a twin, two elder sisters, local to the area, and a half-sister. It was a home, like many others, with challenges. This feature, however, is about the man, not his relatives, so we choose not to detail his account of his household. Suffice it to say, that many of us have experienced much the same matters.
By high school, he made better friends... Like many kids, he was picked on there too, but mostly pranks, and jokes. The height of his anxiety emerged in high school. He was often bullied, and harassed at school --- which he strove through, and overcame. A self-possessed, diligent, reliable young man today, he seems none the worse for wear.
He credits himself for surpassing a challenging home environment, peer pressure, and self-doubt--- paving the way for him to aspire to be a light in the world. He says that, in spite of his obstacles, he is a self-made man. He said he wanted to look out for other people, and help them to find their way.
He has made many mistakes over the years, such as earning poor grades, repeating a year, taking on too-large an, accelerated, academic load, and allowing self-doubt to injure his drive and confidence. That, evidently, is the Joshua of old.
These days, he finds discipline through martial arts, and masters chivalry through history and reading. His reflection on his failures helped him learn that he could always be better, and a change occurred. He suddenly gained an optimistic outlook. Martial arts were a further escape from anxiety and depression, by mastering one, demanding, thing at a time. He also unearthed a heightened focus with a desire to get something better for himself by way of achievement.
He applied his new-found lessons to life, practiced self-evaluation, and redirection going forward. “I should focus on making things better in my life. If it wasn’t for the martial arts, I wouldn’t have had a way to prioritize what was important to me. One tool that helped me focus was mastering intricate techniques”, he said.
“Right now, after a few recent difficult experiences... I’m going to remain single for the time being,
because my goals are more important.”
Asked what his recent pitfalls were in his, recent, early college education, and his advice to other young men and women chasing a dream, he said, “Don’t overwhelm or overload yourself with too many things at once. Distractions come in many shapes and forms. They can be a habit, hobby, or social settings. I got too involved in them over my studies. Then I got rid of them so I can focus on what is more important. We all know what is more important... More important and difficult tasks should come before the easier and shorter ones--- if we want to succeed.”
“What makes you want more for yourself than your peers seem to?” “A life where I can be happy and have achieved something... If I can leave my name somewhere in history, I want to be remembered for making a big positive change in a lot of people’s lives, it will be tremendous thing for them to have... I don’t really come from much, and some people need a good break. I want to prove that ‘I came from here, and anything is possible.’”
He seems to walk that talk. He is presently enrolled in the Respiratory Therapist degree program at BPCC, while working full-time. His to-do list also includes LSU’s Allied Health School for a Bachelors (BS) in Cardiopulmonary Science, then LSU Medical School for his MD... And then, an MBA at Centenary College. “It may not be in the order I see it, but they are bound to happen”, Travers pledged.
His five-year plan also includes:
◌ Mastering Sign language, and French
◌ A Residency at Johns Hopkins Medicine
◌ Fully understanding medieval history
◌ Youth counseling--- using mistakes from his own life... “How a mistake can delay a plan, and that one mistake is not the end of the world; the mistake is a lesson: ‘Don’t try--- just do it, don’t give up on it.’”
As for the big (-ger) picture, Travers envisions investing in nursing homes/care facilities, to increase efficiency, and renew staffing performance, staffing trust, and to improve caregiver morale, census levels, and staff professionalism, with an emphasis on adding “hospitality” to “hosting”.
The self-proclaimed, chivalrous, romantic, when asked about his plans concerning dating, replied, “Right now, after a few recent difficult experiences... I’m going to remain single for the time being, because my goals are more important.”
He added, “Shreveport has almost anything we could want or need... Educationally. We just all need to take advantage of them... And to dare to dream.”
We must stop discarding our youth, as useless, lazy, unmotivated, detached burdens. Some of our young people are remarkable, and deeply-engaged.
If you know of an inspirational, daring, young person in Shreveport-Bossier, please let us know by contacting The Shreveport Sun editorial desk with your recommendation, and we will do our best to feature nominees in future editions. Contact us by calling (318) 631-6222.
“What makes you want more for yourself than your peers seem to?” “A life where I can be happy and have achieved something... If I can leave my name somewhere in history, I want to be remembered for making a big positive change in a lot of people’s lives, it will be tremendous thing for them to have... I don’t really come from much, and some people need a good break. I want to prove that ‘I came from here, and anything is possible.’”
He seems to walk that talk. He is presently enrolled in the Respiratory Therapist degree program at BPCC, while working full-time. His to-do list also includes LSU’s Allied Health School for a Bachelors (BS) in Cardiopulmonary Science, then LSU Medical School for his MD... And then, an MBA at Centenary College. “It may not be in the order I see it, but they are bound to happen”, Travers pledged.
His five-year plan also includes:
◌ Mastering Sign language, and French
◌ A Residency at Johns Hopkins Medicine
◌ Fully understanding medieval history
◌ Youth counseling--- using mistakes from his own life... “How a mistake can delay a plan, and that one mistake is not the end of the world; the mistake is a lesson: ‘Don’t try--- just do it, don’t give up on it.’”
As for the big (-ger) picture, Travers envisions investing in nursing homes/care facilities, to increase efficiency, and renew staffing performance, staffing trust, and to improve caregiver morale, census levels, and staff professionalism, with an emphasis on adding “hospitality” to “hosting”.
The self-proclaimed, chivalrous, romantic, when asked about his plans concerning dating, replied, “Right now, after a few recent difficult experiences... I’m going to remain single for the time being, because my goals are more important.”
He added, “Shreveport has almost anything we could want or need... Educationally. We just all need to take advantage of them... And to dare to dream.”
We must stop discarding our youth, as useless, lazy, unmotivated, detached burdens. Some of our young people are remarkable, and deeply-engaged.
If you know of an inspirational, daring, young person in Shreveport-Bossier, please let us know by contacting The Shreveport Sun editorial desk with your recommendation, and we will do our best to feature nominees in future editions. Contact us by calling (318) 631-6222.