Two days before Independence Day 2002, Sara Kiparizoska and her family moved from their native country of Macedonia and landed in the United States.

They took their first collective breath of American air on a sultry, scorching day in Mississippi - and nearly suffocated; but they've been breathing easier ever since.

Within months of starting school, Sara could speak English about as well as any 9-year-old, and over the next 14 years, she acquired a Southern accent, graduated from West Jones High School in Laurel, secured a scholarship to the University of Mississippi, enrolled in the school's Honors College, signed on as a lifestyles writer for The Daily Mississippian, took on the role of campus leader, joined a sorority, co-founded a business app, earned her bachelor's degree in biochemistry and won admission to medical school.

And in August she, along with her mother, father and sister, finally attained what she considers one of her most prestigious awards: U.S. citizenship.

“It was a family decision,” said Kiparizoska, 23, a first-year medical student. “It's something we're proud of, to officially become a part of a place that we've loved for so long.”

Count backwards from 100 by sevens. Ninety-three, eighty-six, seventy…eight? No, seventy- nine.

When Brenda Hankins of Pelahatchie visited her general practitioner this year, she was asked to do just that after sharing some concerns.

“I'm not a big complainer, but I told my doctor how I used to be the first person up and going in the morning and it was harder to do that now,” said Hankins, 67. “But the thing that made me mad was that I couldn't remember things like I used to,” she said.

Hankins has always been on the go. She has visited all 48 contiguous states, hiked the entire Appalachian Trail and recently returned from a three-week trip to the Great Smoky Mountains.

The Medical Center is proud to announce the following additions to its faculty and leadership staff.