MORGANTOWN As a little girl, Joy Wang couldnt grasp what was happening with her paternal grandmother.

Joy and her parents would visit Grandma, yet she did not recognize them, didnt even remember her own son.

The pain from those experiences changed Joys career plans from owning a zoo to curing Alzheimers, and she picked West Virginia University as the place to get the education to make that a reality.

WVU has a great biochemistry program and that will help guide me for the rest of my life, Joy said days before her official start on campus this month. WVU will be like a second family to me. Its always stood out from the rest as having a great atmosphere. Not only will I get support from my group of friends, but from faculty and staff. Everyone is so welcoming. I feel so accepted even though I havent attended classes yet.

Leola Humphries, known as Verna, suffered from dementia. She passed away when Joy was a teen. When Joy grew older, she began to realize on a deeper level the afflictions of her grandmothers illness.

It opened my eyes to how horrible neurological diseases are, Joy said, and it gave me the ability to sympathize with others.

Now I use that pain and those memories as a driving force, a real motivating factor to remind me of what Im doing.

What Joy is doing is working toward her dream to help people like her grandmother by becoming a neurosurgeon. Joy wants to find cures for Alzheimers disease and other disorders of the brain.

Quite ambitious for an 18-year-old. Yet the dream seems entirely attainable with a glance at Joys resume and work ethic thus far. She was part of the National Honor Society, marching band, student council, quiz bowl team, orchestra and swim team at Capital High School in Charleston. She graduated first in her class.

Joy literally could have gone anywhere to begin her journey.

Original post:
Scholar dreams of finding cure for Alzheimer’s disease