Bradley “Brad” Thomas is a husband and father who came a long way to get to JABSOM. After high school, he didn’t know what he wanted to pursue. During his first year of college he received non-passing grades and was academically suspended. He applied to medical school with a MCAT score in the 96th percentile and a cumulative GPA above a 3.5. In this episode, we find out how Brad was able to overcome an academic setback and talk about his far from ordinary experiences in his non-traditional path to JABSOM which include his time in the army, being a paramedic, and doing malaria research in Africa. We also discuss a relevant and important topic that applies to more than 50% of applicants - reapplying to medical school. Finally, we close this episode by talking about Brad's experience with starting medical school during the COVID-19 pandemic.