Growing up, I dreamt of serving in the Navy like my uncle. I enrolled in a Naval Junior ROTC program when I turned 15 to follow in his footsteps. A physical exam revealed that I’m epileptic. I was devastated. It shut the door on the military, and things I dreamed about like a driver’s license. I wasn’t even allowed to ride my bike. I found myself in an unfamiliar world, on a regimen of anticonvulsants.

It wasn’t all bad. My whole life, I would kind of zone out. I flunked my first year of high school, couldn’t concentrate, remember things, had mood swings. The seizures were to blame. Once my epilepsy was under control, things changed. Thanks to summer school and night classes, I crammed four years of high school into three.

I learned photography and how to use a darkroom, even worked at a one-hour photo place for a bit. I went to college, studied to become a high school teacher, hated it, left college, then got a job at AOL. 

One night, my car broke down on the highway. A drunk driver plowed into me head-on I survived, but the seizures returned, this time tonic-clonic. The crash also left me with PTSD and a left leg that clicks when I walk.

I tried to move forward. I held a few more IT jobs. Got divorced. My sister lost her battle with cancer. Got laid off in the Great Recession. Enrolled in tech school, became an auto mechanic. Got married. Had my first child. Got laid off, again (COVID) and tried to move forward. Again. 

We moved to Vermont. I started at Central Vermont Medical Center in IT in 2020, right in time for the cyberattack. I enrolled at Goddard College, completing the bachelor’s degree I’d started years before. I was in their last graduating class before they closed (I swear I am not a jinx). I had bariatric surgery, lost a lot of weight, and started biking again.

I’m working on my master's degree and still get my hands dirty fixing my old Mercedes Benz station wagon.

Despite all my challenges, I’ve come to realize that each one prepared me for the next. For that, I feel very fortunate. 

Ian Campbell is an IS Technician at Central Vermont Medical Center. He has been with us 4 years.