When she decided to apply to medical school at the age of forty, Karen Morris-Priester’s friends told her: “You are too old. Why don’t you aim for something more realistic?”

After scaling higher hurdles throughout her life, Morris-Priester was not about to let an arbitrary item like age stop her. Raised in a public housing project in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, she grew up one of five daughters of a single, hardworking mother. Becoming a single mother herself at 16, at a time when unwed motherhood was considered a disgrace, Morris-Priester felt she had let her family down, embarrassed them.

All the while, however, she continued to envision a different future. “A lot of people “knew” my hopes and dreams, but they really didn’t because I held them inside,” Morris-Priester said. She shared her life journey at a talk on March 11 in West Plaza of Northampton Community College.

One of her dreams was to complete the schooling she loved. While holding down a half-time job and caring for a baby, she went on to graduate at the top of her class.

Later, married and the mother of five, Morris-Priester longed to return to the classroom. Harrisburg Area Community College beckoned, and she wanted to test the waters with one or two courses. But her husband objected: there was no money, no time, and the kids needed her. At last, Morris-Priester realized that there would never be a “right” time in her husband’s eyes. She enrolled, hiding her books in her car until the night before the first class.

Shortly afterwards, her marriage fell apart, leaving her a single mother with 5 children. Then came a night of terror. She heard a loud noise in her house. Two masked men stood in her kitchen, grabbed her and held a gun against the side of her head. Lying on the floor, Morris-Priester heard them threaten the lives of her son and herself if she raised her head. Seizing on a momentary distraction, Morris-Priester crawled to a phone and dialed 911. Happenstance intervened and the invaders fled, leaving Morris-Priester so terrified that she and her children moved in with her former mother-in-law.

With the trauma still fresh, Morris-Priester managed to study for a major school exam and continue with her life. After two weeks, her anger at the men who almost robbed her and her children of their futures compelled her to return home.

A determined Morris-Priester graduated summa cum laude with an associate degree from Harrisburg Area Community College and magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree from York University of Pennsylvania. Both her degrees are in nursing. Although she loved her nursing job at a hospital, Morris-Priester really wanted to become a doctor. Her friends, and even her college advisor, discouraged her: at her age she would never get into medical school.

The aspiring doctor didn’t let these comments deter her, and she won acceptance to Yale University Medical School. While there, she distinguished herself academically, while also leading human welfare projects. Returning from one project, a mission to Africa, she immediately called her mother, always her ardent supporter and best friend. The following morning, Morris-Priester learned that her mother had died in her sleep. Heartbroken and unable to concentrate, she struggled to master a crucial exam, but failed it. “I stumbled,” she said.

She rebounded and later graduated at the top of her class, the first grandmother to ever cross the commencement stage, grandchildren by her side.

Two weeks before that graduation, Morris-Priester had received a phone call. It was the Oprah Winfrey Show inviting her to be a guest. For years, Morris-Priester’s mother had been writing to Winfrey about her daughter’s accomplishments, “I’m sending this for Oprah’s file,” she would say. Morris-Priester’s daughter upheld the traditions, sending Winfrey newspaper clippings about her mother. When Morris-Priester appeared on Oprah’s show, she felt as if her mother was saying “I’m still here.”

Today, Karen Morris-Priester, M.D. is an anesthesiology resident at Lehigh Valley Hospital. In July, she will enter Harvard Medical School and begin a residency at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Community involvement has always been important in Morris-Priester’s life. In addition to her medical mission to Africa, she speaks at high schools, visits children at Allentown’s Sixth Street Shelter, and founded the Emerging Health Professionals Mentoring program at Lehigh Valley Hospital. A scholarship in her name has been established for women of color pursuing scientific and medical careers.

After relating her life, Morris-Priester left the audience with some tips:

• Set your goals, defined as dreams with an expiration dates;
• Don’t wait for the “right” time to implement your goals. Do it now;
• Develop an “I” mentality, taking responsibility for your failures and successes;
• Be committed and proactive;
• Be a leader rather than just a member of a group;
• Recognize your learning style;
• Manage your time; make use of calendars to keep track of deadlines;
• Recognize your strengths and liabilities. Know your supporters and would-be saboteurs;
• Embrace failure. Learn from it;
• Reward yourself after every victory;
• Do not focus on your own troubles; think of other people and be grateful for what you have.