Brookfield man wants to cure MS

Kevin Schulze, an 18-year-old Brookfield High School graduate, likes snowboarding, playing ultimate Frisbee and a host of other sports.

In September, however, Schulze will hit the books at the University of Tampa in Florida, where he will major in forensic science.

He doesn't want to solve crimes, he wants to solve a medical mystery.

In 2002, one of Schulze's family members was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease affecting the central nervous system and commonly referred to as MS.

Eventually, Schulze hopes to become a biomedical scientist and help find a cure for MS, which affects more than 6,000 Connecticut residents. He was recently awarded the National MS Society, Connecticut Chapter, 2012 Hayley's Hope and Michaela's Miracle MS Memorial Scholarship.

In a recent interview, Schulze discussed his goals for the future and shared advice for living with MS.

Q: How did you become interested in MS?

A: Back in 2002, a family member was diagnosed with MS. I didn't really know much about it. As the years went on, I found out more about it -- all the medicines you need to keep it from killing off a lot of the stuff in your body.

It just really interested me that I could go into a field in my future and try to help to find a cure -- maybe not a cure for the whole disease, but a way to just slow it down a lot.

Q: Can you tell me about the scholarship you received from the Connecticut Chapter of the National MS Society?

A: I always knew there was a bunch of scholarships out there. I found the MS one ... I had to write down how MS affected my life and what's changed and how I have to help out my family more. I was pretty excited when I won.

Q: Are there any misconceptions about MS or things you didn't realize before it affected your family?

A: I definitely learned that stress makes the disease deteriorate the system faster. So if you have less stress in your life, it's easier to live with it. I had to learn over the years not to stress-out my family as much.

Q: What are some of your hobbies?

A: In school I really liked most of the science classes. That's also what got me interested in this. I knew that I could do well in science, and this just meshed up perfectly -- forensic science, biomedical, all that stuff.

I was also interested in working at a hospital or something along those lines and helping with patient care in the future. Other hobbies include snowboarding and a bunch of random sports -- ultimate Frisbee, flag football, all that stuff.

I'm also in the Boy Scouts and just recently received my Eagle Scout (ranking).

Q: What was your Eagle Scout project?

A: It was at the YMCA Greenknoll camp. I painted the floors and I installed 20 benches in each of the rooms.

Q: What's the hardest part about having MS in your family?

A: Probably just knowing that my family member has the disease and at any moment something can trigger it and it can get worse. Just living day by day, trying to see if new medicines are coming out.

Q: What advice would you have for other families that are affected by the disease?

A: Don't let it take over your life. Keep doing what you like to do, and that goes for the person who has MS and the people around them, too.

Also, definitely don't stress those with MS out as much. Take over more responsibilities, and it will help them out in the future.

Erik Ofgang is a freelance writer in Connecticut; erikofgang@gmail.com