Page 82 - A Mind For Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science

OVERCOMING TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY AND LEARNING TO LEARN WITH
LIMITED TIME—PAUL KRUCHKO’S STORY

Paul Kruchko with his wife and daughter, who have helped provide the motivation for him to
reshape his life.

“I grew up poor, with a lot of domestic turmoil. I barely graduated from high school. Afterward, I
enlisted in the army, where I was deployed as an infantryman to Iraq. My vehicle was hit eight out
of the twelve times our platoon was ambushed with roadside bombs.
“During my tour, through lucky chance, I met my wonderful wife. Meeting her convinced me to
leave the service and start a family. The problem was I didn’t know what to do. Worse yet, after
returning home I started to have problems with concentration, lack of cognition, and irritability that
I had never experienced before. Sometimes I could barely finish a sentence. It was only later that
I read about soldiers returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan having issues with undiagnosed
traumatic brain injury (TBI).
“I enrolled in a computer and electronics engineering technology program. My TBI was severe
enough that at first I even struggled to comprehend fractions.
“But it was a blessing in disguise: The learning was doing something to my brain. It was as if
the mental concentration—difficult though it was—was retooling my mind and helping my brain
heal. To me, this process seemed analogous to how I would apply physical effort in the gym, and
blood would be forced into my muscles to build strength. In time my mind healed—I graduated
with high honors and got a job as a civilian electronics technician.