Being selected as a participant in the 2023-2024 AUA Leadership Class is truly humbling and exciting. Honestly, I never thought I would be selected. After finishing residency at The Hospital of The University of Pennsylvania in 2012, I went into solo private practice in small-town Kentucky. Upon deciding to return to academia, I did a fellowship in robotics and endourology at The University of Kentucky and then stayed on in a faculty role, predominately located at the Veterans Administration hospital. During these past several years, I applied for the Science and Quality Fellow program and was not selected. I also applied for a position in the Leadership Program in past cycles and was not selected. Unfortunately, I began to wonder if I would ever be able to get further involved in the AUA or if my time in private practice was now limiting potential career advancement.

Fortunately, I kept working, seeking help, and trying to get involved, and this why selection is so humbling. Many mentors have helped me grow over the past several years. They were the best mentors in every sense of the word. They chose to help me grow and give me opportunities instead of further advancing themselves. They chose to take time, arguably our greatest commodity, to help me develop leadership skills and gain access to other mentors, especially in our section and in the AUA. They certainly had no obligation to help and, instead, helped anyway. To say I’m thankful to them and for them is an understatement. I love them. They represent what is great about our specialty and the very best in humanity. When I think about what I want my future career to be like or how I want people to view me, I see them.

Selection into this program is incredibly exciting secondary to what I hope to gain and accomplish. This program will offer the opportunity to further learn about the functions and inner workings of the AUA and allow for increased knowledge of potential future career paths or involvement. This education will allow for better future service to our specialty, section, members, and patients. The program also has impeccable mentors to further shepherd us along in our growth journey and help us to continue our leadership development. Learning from them will be an amazing experience and help mold me into the future servant leader I hope to become. Equally as exciting is getting to meet, learn from, and grow with all the other members of this class. From this point on, we will all be part of a special group with many years of practice and involvement to come. Many of these relationships will turn into long-term collaborations and, likely more important, friendships. I’m also eager for the opportunity to pay it forward in the future. Thank you to the Southeastern section and the AUA for this tremendous opportunity.