Daniel Whittaker
As I child, I was aware that my father and grandfather had served in the military: my grandfather having been a Flying Tiger in the 1940's and my father having attended the Naval Academy and served in intelligence. I was thus imbued with a sense of service to the country from a young age. All through my youth, I continued to develop a strong sense of the importance of service. At age 14, I took part in the Devil Pups program run by the Marine Corps, a demanding physical and academic program for young underprivileged teenagers at Camp Pendleton. Following this experience, it was clear to me that one way I could be of service to my country would be through serving in the Marine Corps.
While in High School I provided math-tutoring services for people with marginal scores on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery at the local Marine Corps and Navy Recruiting office. On completing High School, I felt that the best approach for me was to continue my education, but I was unaware how I could find the money to attend college, as I came from a family that lived near poverty. I discussing this with the Marine recruiter who made a good case for my joining, including money for college, job training, service to my country and travel abroad. I joined the Marine Corps immediately after graduation.
While in the Marine Corps, leading security teams on sensitive operations, I became acutely aware of the value of motivation, teamwork, discipline, and education, and the roll these play as decisive factors in the success of anything that we undertake. Additionally, having been charged with the operational fitness of the teams I oversaw, I came to see that the health and fitness of each person played a key role in their motivations, attitudes, and consequently their level of performance and joie de vivre.
While serving, I contributed the maximum amount of money admissible to the Veterans Education Assistance Program (VEAP) in order to receive the maximum benefit. This was the only college fund offered to Marines at that time (I am not eligible to participate in the current GI bill). Unfortunately, this only amounted to $1,200 of my original maximal contribution and $2,400 in matching funds from the VEAP. Following my first four years of active duty, I started taking college courses; using up the matching veteran's funds I had been allotted.
Following this, I worked to earn money to continue my schooling. I came to be employed at Tyson and Associates and Integrated Health, Inc., where I found myself assisting researchers in clinical nutrition, covering all aspects of nutrition as it related to maintenance of health, therapy, treatment of disease, and recovery, and this constituted my first eye-opening exposure to peer-reviewed research.
I went on to do volunteer service related to resolving international food security issues for Ecology Action, a not-for-profit that has been researching, publishing, and teaching solutions to food security issues around the world for over 30 years. I later came to work full-time for them doing research and teaching on matters related to satisfying international issues of dietary insufficiency.
Together, these experiences had a formative effect on my desire to have a greater impact in helping people to improve their quality of life and health, and thus my desire to continue my education. Because of the circumstances of my life, I had not had the opportunity to consistently pursue a higher degree of education in nutrition and exercise so that I might be of greater service, though I had hungered for it.
I came to realize that, if I wish to serve society at a higher level and make significant contributions in the field of human health, I would need to return to school with the goal of pursuing a Ph.D. While serving in the Marine Corps, I learned about the values of courage, decisiveness, persistence, and unselfishness. These values proved a driving force in keeping me focused during each step along the way toward achieving my goals.
Having made the decision to return to college full-time, I settled on and attained admission to California State University, Los Angeles, starting classes in 2007. After three years of focused study at Cal State LA, which has deepened my knowledge and the foundation upon which to base my continued progress, I am nearing graduation and prepared to seize the opportunity to focus more profoundly in the area of my interests and desires. Since entering the program at CSULA, I have been on the Dean's list every quarter, I have also been in the top 5% of my class and maintained a 4.0 GPA in my major, and I am a 2009 recipient of the Certificate of Honor from my College.
Since 2008, I have been assisting with research at the University Human Performance Lab. In June, we will be presenting our current findings at the American College of Sports Medicine annual meeting. I have recently formed an Exercise Science Research and Advocacy club on campus in order to advocate for science based approaches to health and fitness, as well as to introduce more students to our research labs and the importance of the projects that are undertaken and encourage their participation. Additionally, I hope to bring prominent researchers in my field to the campus and create opportunities for students to interact with them and their work. I also continue to volunteer as a mentor to youth and adults on health and fitness topics.
I am now applying to graduate programs where I plan to study and do research investigating the mechanisms underlying deleterious factors normally associated with aging and the deterioration of bodily function. As a result of critical cancer research being understaffed, I am also currently volunteering in the University of Southern California cancer and biology of aging research lab. This lab is where, when I am in the doctoral program, I will be doing the research in support of my thesis.
My long-term aspiration is to apply my education and talents in the areas of academia, research, and public policy. As such, I hope to teach and do research to improve the quality of life, performance, fitness, and health of non-athletes as well as athletes. I also hope to play a roll in shaping public policy and bringing the most modern science to the public in a useful and applicable manner.
