Nicholas Comninellis

Power of Role Models

What sort of experiences have the greatest impact on a person’s character? Extremely painful events? Joyful moments? Academic study? For me, it’s the influence of role models. In high school at Park Hill, it was my student government teacher, Jim Evans. Jim urged we his students to dream BIG. As a med student on rotation in Honduras, it was Sam Marx. Dr. Sam in his quiet, compassionate lifestyle modeled enormous joy as he lived among and cared for the Mosquito indigenous people on the eastern coast of Central America. As a young physician in Angola, it was Steve Foster. A surgeon through and through, Steve’s assertive yet tactful style proved effective even in the heat of a civil war. The impact of these men on my life bring to mind what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:1 “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”