Helping find the BALANCE '~ holistic health degree will not only prepare me to repair the human body, but will also help me to develop the skills needed to heal the person as a whole, emphasizing health for the mind, body and soul," junior Max Michael said. I magine a place where patients could come and expect to be fully healed from whatever infirmity was holding them back from living life to the fullest - a place where mental and spiritual ailments were treated as well as physical ones. Picture a place where mind, body and soul could be healed, bringing a person into an almost unreal state of complete restoration. Although this might sound like fantasy to some, junior Max Michael sought to make it a reality, when he essentially added a page to the Harding catalog and created his own major. Through the Honors College and under the guidance of Dr. Warren Casey, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, Michael and 13 other students were working in the field of interdisciplinary studies. Michael combined studies from the departments of science, psychology and Bible. "My major is interdisciplinary studies, but the actual name of my specific major is holistic health," Michael said. "The hope is that I can heal a whole person, not just one part or section of their life that doesn't necessarily completely heal them." Michael said youth ministry was always what he wanted to do because he was drawn to ministry by the idea of healing. Identifying with specific characters from a television show called "Avatar: The Last Airbender," Michael soon realized he needed to pursue healing in a more direct way. "Healing was really brought to my attention through [Avatar: The Last Airbender], and I was like, 'I just want to heal people,"' Michael said. "Jesus healed people, and that's one thing I really admire about him." Michael did not want to stop at physical healing. His desire was to use psychological methods as a way to heal the mind and ministry as a way to heal the soul. "He knows what he wants to do," Casey said. "He wants to do physical therapy but also emphasize health in mind, body and soul. He wants to help a person repair completely." Michael's friends recognized their friend's talent and passion. "He has a heart for knowledge and a mind for strategy," junior Bradley Cain, a longtime friend of Michael, said. "He won't settle for anything less than his all, and this completely sums up his interests." Michael said his dream job would be to open his own private practice where it would be socially acceptable to come to that practice and be healed as a whole person. He did not want merely to prescribe traditional medicine but also to encourage his patients to work with their mind, body and soul to heal themselves. "Wholeness is important because God created the earth in a beautiful harmony where everything works together," Michael said. "When you get out of balance, life isn't how God made it to be." Michael wanted to dedicate his career to helping people restore the balance that they had lost in their lives and minister to them by returning them to the equilibrium that Michael believed God desired all people to live in. "Wholeness is how God created man to be," Michael said. Corey Stumne Junior Feature 1135
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