Austin Cook spent his first year out of high school in a strange city where he worked at a fast food restaurant by day and was pummeled every night.
For the then 17-year-old Cook, the transition from high school to training as a world class athlete was abrupt. The former junior national judo champion would eventually become the 2013 National Judo Champion in the 66 kilogram weight class, become a leader at UCCS, and be accepted to one of the nation’s top medical schools.
“On one particular night, I was taking a beating so ruthless that my eye was cut open and my front tooth was knocked out,” Cook recently wrote. “I held back tears until the end of practice when I walked back to my car and wept. I wanted to drive back home to North Carolina to drink tea with my mom, walk dogs with my dad and sleep in my own bed.”
Cook, whose hometown is Chapel Hill, N.C., swapped the fast food job for studies at UCCS where he majored in biology and minored in chemistry. As a student, he worked part-time at an on-campus science learning center, part-time in a hospital emergency room, conducted research alongside a faculty member, and formed a non-profit organization with the goal of helping children become more active.
It’s a track record that earned him a rare early admittance to Stanford University’s School of Medicine.
On May 23, more than 1,000 spring and summer UCCS graduates will participate in commencement exercises. Cook’s name will appear in the program as earning summa cum laude (with highest honors). But he won’t be walking across the stage or celebrating with classmates.
Instead, he will be training full time for a June 14-15 judo world cup event in El Salvador. Cook will represent the United States in an event that is important to his next goal, participating in the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.
“I had two dreams when I came to Colorado Springs – to get ready for the Olympics and to get ready for medical school,” Cook said. “I’ve done one of those. Now, it’s time to work on the other.”
UCCS Commencement ceremonies are scheduled for 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. May 23 at the Broadmoor World Arena (formerly the Colorado Springs World Arena), 3185 Venetucci Boulevard. It is the 40th UCCS Commencement Spring Commencement Ceremony. The ceremony was split into two last year to accommodate graduates and their supporters interested in attending. More than 1,100 spring graduates are expected to participate in the festivities.
Graduates from the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences will participate in the 11:30 a.m. ceremony. Graduates of programs in the Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences, College of Business, College of Education, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the School of Public Affairs will participate in the 3:30 p.m. ceremony.
That’s an incredible amount of activities he was involved in, while doing judo training. Lots of people make excuses that they can’t find time to train in the martial arts, but not Austin. He’s an incredible example for all.