GoYeo Storytellers: Lawrence Hamilton ‘21

3/18/2021 11:29:00 AM

Loss. It is something that so many of us around the world have experienced over the past year. A loss of a loved one, loss of a job, loss of income, or loss of competition from sport - they all sting in a different way.

For senior baseball player Lawrence Hamilton, his greatest loss happened well before the COVID-19 pandemic. It came on October 30, 2007, a day before his 9th birthday - a day he will never forget. It was the day his mother, Karen Elizabeth Fraction-Hamilton, lost her five-year battle with breast cancer at the age of 49 after a distinguished career as an actress, Broadway dancer, and model.

We were very close and obviously that was the toughest day of my life, Hamilton said. I was with her a lot throughout the chemotherapy process and this was kind of my first introduction into the medical field.

The doctors who treated his mom became role models to him and sparked an interest in medicine that continues to this day. In just a few short months, Hamilton will graduate with a degree in biology before entering medical school at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio in the fall.

“Wright State is known for graduating the most African-American physicians from non-Historically Black Colleges and Universities while having a strong placement track record of sending doctors to residencies at schools such as Yale, Harvard, and UCLA. I can see myself doing something similar in the future. The school had great diversity and I felt that family atmosphere during my admissions interviews.”

Going into his junior year, Hamilton spent the summer gaining valuable experience by shadowing Dr. Frederic J. Guerrier at the Roser Park Medical Center in St. Petersburg, Florida learning the true ins and outs of being a doctor from the family medicine specialist.

It was the most influential experience of my career to this point. I learned a lot about not just the medical side of things, but more so about the patient-to-patient interactions and how you should really treat them as an extension of your family as they are coming to see you most likely during a time of need in their life. I also learned how you need to evaluate each patient individually and take each case on its own.

A member of the Black Student-Athlete Group (BSAG), Hamilton serves as the community service officer and has been vital in the department of athletics’ commitment to social justice and engagement with Oberlin High School. As an inspiring Black doctor, he understands the importance of being able to serve fellow African-Americans in the medical sector.

“It gives African-American patients someone to relate to and they see someone who likely had the same experiences they had growing up and understands what it means to be Black in America. I believe that it certainly reduces the hesitancy of those in the Black community to go to the doctor - when they see someone who looks like them that definitely increases their comfortability level.”

While the future seems bright for Hamilton, the last few baseball seasons or lack thereof have certainly been hard on him and his teammates. An All-NCAC Second-Team selection as a sophomore in 2019, Hamilton has belted out 90 hits over 74 career games and would have an opportunity to chase the all-time career hits record of 205, which is held by Jeff Schweighoffer ’15. His 52 hits in 2019, rank sixth-best in a season in school history.

It's really been tough not having those last two years to truly flourish and play with the guys. Yet, at the end of the day, I have come to terms with it. I tried to turn it into a positive as I focused completely on medical school. I truly don’t believe I would be entering medical school immediately after graduation with a full season.

Before taking off the spikes for good, long ago Hamilton retired another special set for shoes - those the tap dancing variety as he followed in his mother’s footsteps as a childhood dancer until he was nine years old. While it is a certainty Karen was proud of all of his dance performances as a child, one could only wonder how proud she must be of the young man her little tap-dancing son has become as he prepares to graduate from a world-renowned institution and pursue a career in medicine. Her smile in the sky is undoubtedly shining bright.

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