Sergeant Emily Thompson Schelberg

Emily was raised in a culture of service among her family. Many of her family members served in the military, in emergency medicine or as firefighters. But, ultimately, it was the loss of one family member on 9/11 that motived her to join the Marines. New York Deputy Fire Commissioner William Feehan was killed when the World Trade Center collapsed and his loss spurred her decision to join the Marine Corps.

After basic training, Emily was deployed to Iraq. It was during her deployment
while assisting Navy Corpsmen on a humanitarian aid mission that Emily
realized her desire to work in healthcare. She was touched by the impact a single well-trained medical professional can have on a population with limited access to basic health care and realized the medical field her true calling.

Upon her return, she entered Officer Candidate School and graduated in the top of her class. While it proved to be the most demanding experience of her life, it also gave her an understanding of her own character, endurance and limitations and inspired her to lead others.

She is pursuing a master’s of nursing with the goal of becoming a nurse practitioner, with an emphasis in orthopedics and plans to serve underprivileged communities. Emily’s focus will be preventative, nutritional, orthopedic and sports medicine to affect change on a growing obesity epidemic. She hopes to bring about an improvement in patient health through preventative care in disadvantaged communities.