Meet the 2020 Scholars

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Montgomery M.

Undergraduate Recipient

"What do you believe is the greatest unaddressed patient need in the CF community, and if you could, how would you try to fix it? Who would you partner with (e.g. public figure, organization) to help fix the issue and why?"

As many in the world of cystic fibrosis care know, exercise is vital to maintaining our health. Exercise helps with lung clearance and can even help activate defective CFTR proteins. With exercise, however, comes the loss of vital fluids and electrolytes, especially in those with CF. As an avid competitive soccer player for 15 years, I knew the replacement of fluids and electrolytes was important, but didn’t fully grasp its importance until the summer of 2019. Competing at a soccer camp in Georgia in sweltering weather, I began to suffer from serious heat exhaustion. Every muscle in my body was cramping with intense pain, clearly due to the loss of fluids and electrolytes. My dad headed to Kroger to find some better way to rehydrate than just Gatorade and water. Eventually he found a drink mix called Liquid I.V. The high amount of electrolytes and glucose present in the drink was able to help me recover and be able to play the next day. In short, one of the most underlooked aspects of cystic fibrosis care is maintaining health during exercise, not just maintaining health by exercising. After years of searching for the best in-game care for someone like me with cystic fibrosis, my dad and I have determined that a balanced amount of electrolytes (salt) and carbohydrates (sugars) is ideal to prevent exercise exhaustion. I would spread awareness to this issue by partnering with Liquid I.V. to get it into the hands of all athletes with CF.

MONTGOMERY M.'S ARTWORK

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MONTGOMERY M.'S ACHIEVEMENTS

  • MHMS Student Council — Senior Class President - Elected as senior class president and partook in various senior and school event planning and organization. Will plan 10-year and successive school reunions.
  • MHMS DECA — Two-Time State Finalist and ICDC Participant - Participated in Tennessee State Career Development Conference and placed top 5 in our categories both sophomore and junior years to advance to the International Career Development Conference. Will participate again this year.
  • MHMS Government Club — Model UN and YIG Delegate - Participated in Tennessee Youth in Government sophomore year. Participated in Model United Nations junior and senior year; won outstanding resolution junior year.
  • National Honor Society — Member and Treasurer - Participated in various service events, including participating in food drives and as an escort in the Night to Shine Dance for Students with Special Needs. Served as Treasurer senior year and gave induction speech to new members in 2019.
  • MHMS Robotics Team — Programming, Build, and Booth Team Member - Was a member of the MHMS Robotics team and worked on programming, build, and booth teams. Our robot won the 2017 BEST National Championship my sophomore year.
  • MHMS Men’s Soccer — Player and Captain - Starter for the Merrol Hyde Men’s soccer team. Two-time district and regional champions. All-District and two-time all-county player. Two-time “Mr. Hawk” award winner for embodiment of team ideals and leadership qualities. Senior captain for 2019-2020.
  • Community Service — 100+ service hours - Volunteer for Soccer Stars, a local program allowing physically disabled or mentally challenged children and adults to play soccer. Volunteer for the Tim Tebow’s Night to Shine dance as an escort to a prom for high schoolers with special needs. Provided free tutoring to people of all ages, kindergarten through high school. Soccer field repair volunteer. Community carpool driver.
  • Club Soccer — Player for Tennessee United Soccer Club - Participated in state and regional tournaments; participated in state, regional, and national leagues. Won Division I state tournament in 2017.
  • Work Experience - Prince Street Pizza and Pub - worked part-time as a pizza cutter and busboy for a local pizza restaurant.