Riley Lebedun

My name is Riley Lebedun, and I am a student at the University of Kentucky. My major is Pre Medical Laboratory Sciences, which is a major a part of the College of Health Sciences at the university. I grew up in a northwest suburban town of Chicago, Illinois, named Algonquin. Growing up in a middle class family, I found myself being very fortunate with the life I have had so far. At a young age, I began practicing martial arts, and officially began competing nationally in 2006. For the next eight years, I had dedicated my life to the sport and school, doing well in both. In 2009, I received mt first gold medal in a national tournament at the age of 12. In 2014, I became a coach for the competition team at my dojo and helped all thirty competitors do very well, and later myself competed in my first international tournament in Munich, Germany. After discontinuing martial arts, I dedicated the rest of my high school career to school, being a member of the community service organization Interact, the National Honors Society, and the Cross Country team. I also in this time competed in my first half-marathon, which I received a time of two hours and fifteen minutes. After being accepted to the University of Kentucky, I became a member of the Living Learning Program at the school known as the Interprofessional Healthcare Residential College. Once I arrived at my school, I participated in events through the organization that centered around healthcare. I also became members of the Medical Laboratory Science Club, the Pre Physician Assistant Club, and the fraternity Phi Delta Theta.