For the past year, this campus celeb has been taking social media by storm, known as “a wild Josh Bolks”. He can be spotted on campus, walking down the street, or studying in the library. As elusive as he is, we were able to track down the wild Josh Bolks and get to know him.
While you may only recognize him from various photos across social media, this WSU senior is doing huge things. Most recently, Bolks helped plan the first ever student led mission trip to Peru. He and two other MedLife officers worked tirelessly for six months to pull together a trip that would help improve the lives of the people of Peru.
“I’ve always wanted to do mission work and go and help people somewhere else,” said Bolks, “I wanted to gain a better understanding of things outside of our cookie cutter lives and how well we have it here.”
The Winona MedLife chapter worked with other chapters in Peru totaling about 50 students. Each morning, the group of students set up mobile clinics in areas of need. They practiced general medicine, dentistry, OBGYN check ups, sex education, and taught children how to brush their teeth.
Bolks recounts his own childhood illness and credits his interest in the medical field to his experience. In third grade, he became very ill and was out of school for months. He remembers his home care nurses and doctors that visited him and helped him through that time.
“They made the worst time of my life not as bad as it could have been. Since then I’ve always wanted to be able to do that and return that favor.”
When he entered college, Bolks went straight into the medical field and said he loved it right away. As ambitious as he is, Bolks started his research capstone during his sophomore year, as opposed to doing it his senior year like most students. He saw his hard work paying off last summer when he was offered an internship at Mayo Clinic. He remembers thinking that applying for the position was a long shot, but he set his goals high and achieved them. During his internship, he was working in the cancer research lab. Bolks said, “Being able to work with something so serious and problematic, and knowing that you’re having an impact on something so serious is really cool.” Mayo Clinic has now offered him a full time position after graduation.
Not only is Bolks a leader of MedLife Winona, working at Mayo every weekend, and teaching research, he is also on the rugby team. He balances his busy life by remembering that it will all get done eventually, and often while running on minimal amounts of sleep.
“I don’t sleep a lot. I’ve perfected surviving on four hours of sleep. It seems crappy but once you get used to it, it’s not horrible.” says Bolks. “Balancing is just being patient with yourself and knowing that I have a lot of stuff to get done but focusing on one thing at a time. Knowing that it will all get done eventually.”
After graduation, Bolks plans to work at Mayo Clinic while applying for med school. One day he would like to work with cancer patients and provide care for them, and based on his achievement record, you can bet that is exactly where he will end up.
Bolks’ advice to anyone pursuing their dreams is to set your goals high and don’t stop until you achieve them.
“I’m not a genius by any means. My advice would be to take a leap of faith and trust in yourself”, says Bolks. “Like with going to Peru, so many people said we weren’t going to be able to do it. We worked hard and told ourselves we’re going to get it done and we didn’t let other people’s opinions or negative views stop it. I never would have imagined that I could get into the best hospital in the country. It is an awesome accomplishment. Set your goals high and don’t stop until you achieve them, because it is so worth it.”