When service motivates you, you can push through just about anything

There are a few things universally recognized as both worthy and grueling. Marine Corps training and medical school are two good examples. When she graduates from Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine in 2026, Marina Hierl will have done both.

Hierl

She says motivation is key to undertaking physically and mentally difficult tasks. Without a clear purpose to drive you, even the fittest or smartest person can flounder. Ms. Hierl said her strength comes from an authentic desire to serve.

Ms. Hierl was the first woman to pass the rigorous Marine Corps Infantry Officer Course and to lead a Marine Corps platoon. Now she’s a first-year medical student and an Abigail Geisinger Scholar excited by the possibilities of primary care. She sees remarkable parallels in both endeavors.

“One common trait I saw in people who were most successful in the Marine Corps was their motivation — how genuine their passion and dedication to their purpose was,” she said. “We all did it to become good leaders for our Marines. They deserve good leadership. When that’s your motivation, physically and mentally you can push through much more than you think you can. On day one, we were told to write on the cover of our notebooks: It’s not about me. If you didn’t already feel that going in, you were probably starting off on the wrong foot. It’s the same for medical school.”

For most women who’ve entered the Marine Corps Infantry Officer Course, the miles-long hike carrying a pack that could weigh more than 150 pounds has been too much.

“Lots of preparation went into those hikes,” she said. “Making sure I had the proper nutrition and hydration. Making sure the pack was packed just right. It was like an exact science to give me the best chance of success. Then, when you are actually doing it, you have to kind of dissociate because of the pain. My mindset helped. I knew I wanted to be an infantry officer more than anything, so falling back was not an option. I told myself this is temporary, so I could do the thing I really wanted to do. There was also the team aspect. I had a lot of really good friends; my male peers supported me. During hard moments, when I thought my body was at its limit, I had friends who said, ‘No, get up there. Get in front of me.’ They wanted to see me graduate.”

Hierl

Ms. Hierl sees many similarities to medicine. “The purpose and the teamwork — that’s what drew me to medicine. I had a Marine who got very sick. I felt limited, as his leader, to help him. I saw doctors helping in ways I just couldn’t. What doctors do for their patients is very much like what I wanted to do for my Marines,” she said. “Now I am dedicating myself to my studies — not so I can learn, and I can feel accomplished — but to become a proficient provider and be able to help people. That’s how I see my studies. It’s about my future patients.”