April 21, 2014
CHICAGO - As the 2014 Alumni Game and Reception approaches this Saturday, the fifth installment of Loyola Legends focuses on Paul Roach. Paul has become a familiar face at alumni events but this year he will be absent as he serves as a flight surgeon in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Paul played at Loyola from 1985-1988. Following graduation, he was awarded a Navy scholarship and enrolled in medical school.
Looking back now, what was your experience at Loyola like, and what about it best prepared you for life after Loyola?
At this point, it has been 25 years since my time at Loyola and ever since graduation, I have been struck by what a rare, protected time and place it was. We would wake up every day and go to a classroom where wise people would do their best to teach us the most important things they could. Then we would train for a few hours where a great coach drilled into us teamwork, leadership, and spirit. Then when we weren't studying, we could hang out with a terrific array of creative and fun people, enjoying our youth and optimism and camaraderie. It was a rare moment and we were extremely fortunate to get it. One of the ways in which Loyola prepared me for life is particular to a Jesuit education: if you just learn about your technical field, say, business, or pre-med, then that's it, that's what you have, it's pretty finite; but if you also work through a core curriculum such as ours, then you are far more equipped to change, grow and develop throughout your life. Another way in which Loyola prepared me for life is specific to the university itself: at the start of senior year, I changed my academic focus from English Literature to pre-med, and the administration bent over backwards to accommodate that. I seriously doubt many other schools would have been so enabling and helpful. That flexibility and support enabled me tremendously. The professors and their teaching assistants helped me to get through the pre-med regimen successfully. Without all of these people, I am quite sure I'd never have been able to do it.
What were some of the highlights of your time as a member of the Men's Soccer Team?
Two distinct highlights come to mind which sum it up more than any other: Freshman year my father passed away from cancer, and the team came to the wake and, subsequent to that, genuinely looked out for me; at a time when I needed them most they were there in a very big way. And I think it was sophomore year when Coach O'Connell married Carolyn Vellos, and they invited us to the wedding! Really, how close were we all? It was incredible. But I can't let this question go without describing at least one gorgeous soccer moment: We were playing at Evansville, who at the time were one of the top teams in the nation, and their home crowd was huge and incredibly obnoxious. And then one of our fullbacks, Vince D'Amico, drives in this unbelievable arrow of a shot from 35 yards out or so and it silenced the place. We lost the game but in my mind we won it anyway, if you know what I mean, because we were a new program back then that was just coming to life. Vince's strike was the finest goal of the night; it proved that we belonged on the field and it warned that it wouldn't be long before Loyola Soccer would emerge as a force to contend with.
How did your career post Loyola begin and how have you gotten to where you are today?
I had to spend an extra summer and fall semester mopping up the pre-med curriculum and taking the entrance exam which was all under the agency of the Loyola "Post-bac program," which had/has a terrific record of getting students into medical school. I applied for a Navy scholarship right after graduation from Loyola and was granted it, so when I got accepted to Rush Medical downtown, the U.S. Navy covered the entire bill. I did my surgical "internship" in Oakland, California, then I spent four years as a Navy "Flight Surgeon" which involved learning to fly a helicopter and being a squadron doctor for Marine and Navy aviation units. Then we moved to Maryland where I did years two through five of General Surgery residency at the University of Maryland, followed by serving two years as a General Surgeon at a small U.S. Navy hospital in Sicily, Italy. After that we came back home and I did a three-year fellowship in cancer surgery at the University of Chicago, followed by a year at a large Navy hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia. Then I went to the war in Afghanistan with the Marines during their big push into the south of that country, serving as a trauma or "combat" surgeon, which was in 2009-2010, a very busy time in that conflict. I served at Camp Dwyer and at Camp Bastion, both in Helmand Province, in "field hospitals." After that we moved back home from Virginia and I've been working at Lovell Federal Health Care Center, the combined military-VA hospital in North Chicago, for several years. For the past year I was the chief of surgery there. And now, once again, I am in Afghanistan as a combat surgeon, in Kandahar; hopefully this time to wrap this war up. As for how did all of this happen? It goes back to that first question and the fact that Loyola produces someone who can evolve and grow. Also, importantly, playing soccer at that Division I level teaches you how to compete with anybody. The drive and grit you develop can be applied wherever you want.
You've been active about coming back and attending alumni events. Do you as an alum still feel a strong connection with the university?
I do. It's very strong. My closest friends either come from my immediate neighborhood growing up or Loyola soccer. I met my wife, Megan, at Loyola. If I could go to college again, I would go to Loyola. I am very grateful for the career that I have and the life I have been able to lead and, as I've described above, I really don't think it would have played out like that had I gone to most anyplace else. Also, each school has its own character and I think the people who are attracted to that school tend to be of a like mind. I really, really like what Loyola is about and the people who are part of it. Lastly, I'd like to say a very sincere "thank you" to Coaches Jones, Plotkin, and Boyden for being so warm and interested in reaching out to us alumni and for inviting me to describe how important Loyola and Loyola Soccer has been to me. Your efforts make a very big difference and I really hope the alumni network grows and that we as a group can become helpful to the current players as they move out into the world and are looking for contacts in it.
If you could describe Loyola in one sentence what would it be?
Loyola is the place where my adult life began.
