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She bounced around for a little bit after high school, taking odd jobs and working in retail at Louisville’ s The Bottom Half.“ We played loud rock and roll music. It was hipster and very cool.” For a change of scenery, she moved to Houston, Texas for two years and worked in marketing, just looking for an escape and maybe hoping to stumble on something more.
“ At 23, there was a voice in my head telling me to get my act together,” she said.“ So, I came back to Louisville and took care of my mom. I was trying to find myself, but I still wasn’ t ready to commit. It wasn’ t until 1990 that I decided to focus on my career; nursing was familiar and achievable.”
Dr. Person started over from scratch. She went to Jefferson Community College, and then it was off to nursing school where she got a two year ADN degree. During her study, she worked as an aide and earned a Norton nursing scholarship. That would start a many decades-long relationship with the hospital system.
From the very beginning, there were nurses who supported Dr. Person and helped her find hours to work while she was still in school.
“ The Norton nurses offered me tremendous support and encouragement during the admission school process and first years of Med school. They arranged flexible work schedules for me so that I could attend my first-year classes, and yet continue to nurse and maintain income. Nursing provided me the foundation of how to provide compassionate care at the bedside, and interact with sick patients.”
There were also good and caring physicians who pushed her, as a nurse, to go further with her education and think bigger about what she wanted health care in Louisville to be.
“ Dr. Charlie Smith had a huge impact on me early on. He was one of the first physicians who gave me the confidence to think I could do something apart from nursing. Dr. David Bybee came into our unit a lot and pushed me towards chemistry. Drs. Chris and Connie Anggelis, they may not remember but they encouraged me too. And Dr. Kitty Henry, she was a nurturer. These doctors gave me their time and shared their knowledge, but they wanted me to take ownership of my future.”
With confidence in her corner, Dr. Person began to try prerequisites for medical school. She put her best foot forward, and the doors began to open professionally and academically.
At a market in Madrid
“ I had the right energy around me, and many people encouraging me. I don’ t know if I believe in coincidence, but I believe in a spiritual serendipity. So, I thought whether it was medical school or not, let’ s do it and see what He’ s got planned.”
As her professional life was taking off, her home life was developing a few cracks. She would endure a divorce just as she entered her first year of medical school.“ That part was tough, but it taught me that life isn’ t about the house or car or swimming pool. When you look in the mirror, what do you see back?”
The silver lining might have been hard to find at the time, but that test would open pathways Dr. Person didn’ t even know existed. She found support and renewed strength in her girlfriends, and a new chapter of her life was on the horizon.
Through the friends and colleagues whom Dr. Person had relied on during medical school, a grant writer and former professor at JCC, Dr. Ruth Greenberg learned of her work and nominated her for the American Federation of Aging Research Scholarship.
“ I don’ t think I would have even been on Dr. Greenberg’ s radar if it weren’ t for the support of my friends during medical school. I didn’ t know she nominated me. I’ m scrolling through my e-mail and see‘ You’ ve been awarded the …’ and thought it was an advertisement. Being a visiting AFAR student at Harvard allowed me opportunities I could only dream of.”
Harvard moves fast, but Dr. Person kept up just fine. Dr. Susan Mitchell of Harvard Geriatrics became her mentor, and their first project together was published. It wasn’ t long before Dr. Person was presenting at a national conference on aging research. In addition, she continued to explore her Louisville based options with Dr. Henry.
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