Scholar serves community in health care & military

Leksie Boese is no stranger to fighting for her place.

Born with a hole in her heart, the now 25-year-old needed a feeding tube for four months as a baby to grow strong enough for open-heart surgery.

When Boese wanted to join the military in 2017, she had to fight for that too.

“I just thought it would be super cool to serve and give back to our country,” said Boese, who lives in Bismarck, North Dakota. “It actually took me three years to get into the military because I have some medical stuff that I had to get cleared.