John Cherry

I am a self proclaimed life student, or rather, a life-long student. Or is that a self proclaimed student of life? Well, probably all of the above if I am being truthful. Here is the obligatory bio, I will try to make it brief. I graduated from Brigham Young University, earning a B.Sc. in Microbiology, but more importantly I met and married a beautiful woman named Christy. After graduation came a one year position as the manager of a lab (also at BYU) while Christy finished her degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. This led to an interest in post-graduate research and eventually a M.Sc. from Emory University in Atlanta, GA where I studied the population biology, ecology and evolution of infectious disease. That is a serious mouthful, I know. Then came the decision to switch gears and attend Palmer College of Chiropractic, from which I will graduate in October with Jay. Along the way Christy and I adopted a son, Jonas (5 years old now), had two girls, Eleanor and Lillian (3 and 2 years old respectively), and are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our fourth child, a boy, who is due four days after graduation. Wow! My little wonders (here wonders really means great masses of energy that often times make me wonder what I have gotten myself into) inspire me everyday and I could not imagine life without them.

Now, how did I end up on this journey with Jay and the rest of the team? I have been finding ways to get involved and serve on a local and community level for quite some time, most likely a result of observing my parents do likewise, however, for the past several months I have become increasingly anxious to make a difference on a much grander scale. As I began to discuss Journey to Solidarity with Jay I was struck with the novel idea, ask what I could do to help. Right, maybe it was being around Jay that led to the feeling of wanting to do more in the first place. Anyway, here I am and here I will stay to whatever end I may be useful in determining and carrying out the vision of Journey. Here’s to dreaming big!