Jack Andraka: The Teenage Innovator Who's Making a Difference

Jack AndrakaXPRIZE Foundation [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]Pancreatic cancer kills over 400,000 people a year, and when in its late stages, there's almost no way to survive! Thankfully the problem about pancreatic cancer is not about the treatment, it’s about detecting it early when it’s weakest, and 15-year-old Jack Andraka has created a test. Jack grew up in Crownsville, Maryland with his older brother, Luke, his mother, Jane, and his father, Steve. Both of Jack’s parents work in science and math fields whilst his brother wins awards at science fairs. Jack looks up to his brother and frequently competes in small trivia contests against him. Jack possesses the heroic qualities of empathy and tenacity. Jack Andraka’s striving attitude to create an early stage test for pancreatic cancer, and the creativity he displays when creating his projects, makes him a hero.

Jack’s tenacity shows most when he continues to tirelessly work on his test, all while taking constant harassment and bullying. When Jack came out as gay when he was 13 years old, he was continually bullied through his middle and high school career. Shilling from Daily Mail writes, “...[Jack] was ostracized as a geek and viciously bullied when he came out as gay, aged 13” (Para. 4). While getting constantly bullied and harassed all throughout his middle school years, he persisted through his challenges and continued create the perfect early stage test for pancreatic cancer. Jack’s tenacity was really put to the test when he stayed after school for hours to work on his test, while all he has to remember from the school hours is the constant belittlement. Smithsonian writes, “Andraka devoted seven months to developing the test. He worked after school every day” (Para. 4). Jack’s intense mental fortitude shows heroic quality because of how long he took the harassment while also enduring the work of lab testing for seven whole months. Jack endured a lot of hassling and did the tedious work required of lab testing for much longer than most people ever could.

Jack's creativity allowed him to create multiple projects that are affordable and easily accessed. Jacks creativity shows most when he created his early stage pancreatic cancer test. Tucker tells us, “Andraka created his potentially revolutionary pancreatic cancer detection tool at nearby Johns Hopkins University,” (Para. 3). Jack’s creativity makes him the only one that thought of this idea, while everyone else shunned it because they thought it would only end in failure. Jack created a water bio detector even before he made the pancreatic cancer test. Boys’ Life says, “Life Scout Jack Andraka first appeared in Boys' Life in January 2012 after creating an environmental biosensor that detected water pollution,” (Para. 1). This shows that Jack is astoundingly creative because he has created multiple life-saving projects that may help those in need. Jack's creativity allowed him to help people who have early stage pancreatic cancer, and those whose loved ones are fighting this cancer.

Jack on TED TalkTED Conference [Public domain]Jack's astounding creativity and tenacious attitude makes him a hero for people whose world is affected in some way by pancreatic cancer, be it primary or secondary. Jack didn’t just invent this one amazing cancer test; he has also created other community projects, such as his water pollution bio detector because he is driven to help others. He also went through a lot of bullying and harassment. Jack inspires others because of his academic and real world achievements while he also persevered through a lot of bullying when he was only in middle school. Jack continues to search for ways he can help communities using his drive to help others to continue to push for a brighter future.

Works Cited

"Geeky teen emerges from the lab a superstar." Daily Mail [London, England], 17 Apr. 2015, p. 32. Biography in Context, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A410023825/BIC1?u=powa9245&xid=eac339a6. Accessed 24 Jan. 2018.

"Jack Andraka." Gale Biography in Context, Gale, 2013. Biography in Context,                https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1650009064/BIC1?u=powa9245&xid=5cb258f1. Accessed 24 Jan. 2018.

Tucker, Abigail. "The prodigy: a Maryland high-school sophomore who reads science journals for fun may have invented a new diagnostic test for a deadly form of cancer." Smithsonian, Dec. 2012, p. 68+. Biography in Context, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A319615378/BIC1?u=powa9245&xid=3fa55541. Accessed 24 Jan. 2018.

Jack Andraka, the Teen Prodigy of Pancreatic Cancer Abigail Tucker - https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/jack-andraka-the-teen-prodigy-of-pancreatic-cancer-135925809/