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Upon learning that no amount of knowledge measures up to a human life, he starts becoming curious about people. But he often has to stop himself, saying, "Humans can't be quantified. They can't be measured, quantified, so on. You can't just analyze someone because it intrigues you, alright? There's limits in this. There's real, ethical limits."

He often worries about this, brushing his long hair back with a frantic look in his eyes. It's to the point where brushing his hair back becomes a self soothing behavior.

He developed slight social anxiety as a result of this, as he doesn't want to risk himself slipping into his curious nature.

He also becomes more nervous asking his professors questions. When he normally had no problem answering questions, he now stumbled on his words a little, and his eyes darted more. He normally still looked composed, but there were moments where he stumbled now -- the burden of newfound knowledge and curiosity.

This is the first time he had ever been plagued with nerves like this, especially in regards to knowledge. He had never been nervous to want to learn more, but now that there is ethical boundaries at stake, he became more worried about that.

"Did people always feel this way when they learned something new?"

"Have people always known about this?"

"How much have I not known?"

He almost felt like a child in this moment, as he hadn't grasped the emotional gravity of human beings until now.

He even started to doubt the point of learning things, when human beings themselves exist.

"What is there to even learn when there's so much I don't know about people? I only know the land, air, and the body I walk in. What else is there to learn when there's so much I still don't know?"

"How have people gone on not being able to know anything??"

"I don't know where I'm going, but at least I'm not the only one who doesn't. There will be people from all over the world at this school. They won't know a lick about Pittsburgh, and they'll all be in the same boat as me. I won't be the only one. I won't be stranded."

Despite his affectionate and loving household, he became deeply intellectual not because of neglect, but because he was encouraged by his father to pursue his interests. Milo as a young child developed an interest in science, so when Milo started showing these signs, his father gently asked him questions. "What do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell?" As a bio teacher, his father encouraged him to experience the scientific method and to always be aware of his surroundings. So because of this love and constant present, Milo became increasingly intellectual. Not because of neglect, but because of sheer love from his parents. They encouraged him to be the way he is. As a result, Milo started looking up to his father as a role model.

Milo was deeply loved. He was hugged by his parents, and his sister Kadence loved him too. He was a deeply loved figure in his household and he garnered admiration from many of his family members. He was surrounded by them, their love and admiration imbuing the air around him. Regardless, he grew up deeply intellectual. Or rather, maybe as a direct result, he grew up deeply intellectual. He was never told to change, or that he was too weird. His family would always ask what he discovered, or what he found along the way. He was never once told, "Why aren't you more athletic like the other boys? They could use one more player." He was simply "let be", off to his own projects, off to his own aspirations. The image of him hunched over on the table and browsing over his notebook brought so much love and joy to his family, so they never once wanted to change that. It was him, after all. It was him.

It was the way he saw the world. So, they didn't suggest an alternative method.

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IMAGES

9 year old Milo squatting and running his hand over the grass, feeling it wave and how long it is. The day is bright and the sky is cerulean blue.

SONG

Skinny Love by Bon Iver.

He was loved by his sister -- it was a mix of innocent love and love she absorbed from their family towards him. He was seen as the next generation of Young scientists, and the image they had of him was 14 year old Milo with a glowing yellow halo against a white backdrop. He looked to the side and was facing the front of where he was looking. He wore rectangular black glasses and his hair was short. He had a kind and warm look in his eyes.

He has that gaze because it's the way his parents looked at him, and also because he himself has some of that love within him. It's all just in his eyes because it hasn't gone anywhere else.

He is deeply moved by folk music and piano music, especially covers of songs. He loves them more than the actual music itself.

Name: Milo Makana Young

Hometown: Hilo, Hawai'i

DOB: May 27th, 2001

Age (as of Fall 2026, his first year of DPT): 25

Occupation: DPT Student

School: University of Pittsburgh

Expected Graduation Year: Spring 2029

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Notes

He was an only child up until he was 10, when his sister Kadence was born

His parents weren't ready to watch their only son grow up, so they decided to have another child, as they wanted to hang on to parenthood a little bit longer

They weren't ready to stop nurturing someone, especially someone who was created from their own love

Milo had been interested in science from a young age. His father was a high school biology teacher, so he encouraged Milo to pursue his interests

Whenever Milo discovered something new, his father encouraged him to ask questions -- basically experience the scientific method and develop his state/sense of being

Even after Milo joined soccer and started being less absorbed in his interests, he still remained with an immense sense of curiosity and the urge to know everything

For a long time, Milo was widely believed to become the second generation of Young scientists -- just like his father. Over time though, he strayed away from this and he started thinking more practically

He started wondering how to apply all his knowledge to the real world. "Okay, I know all of this, so what do I do with it now? Yes, I could invest in my studies, but that wouldn't go towards anything. It would just be for my own personal development. That doesn't help anyone."

So he strayed away from science and started thinking in more practical terms. He started looking into fields and jobs that could apply this practicality and allow him to become specialized in something. One of these was physical therapy.

Initially, he may have started out with physical therapy as a practical job. But then he started remembering that as at an early age, he had always been fascinated with his own body. He remembered moving his arms to feel the joints moving, and he remembers stretching out his own face via face expressions. He had always been intrigued by how the human body works, so he developed an interest in human anatomy and progressed from there.

He started going to college to study anatomy. Even after he remembered his own interest in anatomy, he remained logical about his learning journey. It was just about taking classes, and gathering as much info as possible for his future job. However, he didn't get the emotional value until he had a personal encounter with it. He may have gone as part of his classes, but either way, what he saw made him see the sheer emotional value of what he was doing. He was taking care of another human life, and no price nor amount of knowledge could ever measure up to a human life.

In this way, he started understanding his parents when they said they didn't want to give up parenthood. They could never shake off the act of having taken care of someone, even as that child is growing up. Once you do it, you don't forget it. It remains with you.

After that, he started asking his dad about the emotional value of his own work. Milo ultimately realized that everything is much more profound than it seems, and that it's often more than just applying knowledge to the real world. It's a livelihood. It sustains you, and it sustains others in the process. You are watering the plants of the world.

In this way, Milo thought it was bittersweet that his dad has remained a teacher for so long, because he kept thinking back to his parents' wishes, of wanting to nurture someone for just a bit longer. His father continues to do this, even if his own children are grown up.

He could be doing this with people who are in it for the emotional value. "That's why they started doing it all along. Why they've done it all along. They're doing it for how it makes them feel, how it makes other people feel. And that is immeasurable. No amount of knowledge I have could ever surpass a human life."

So even though he remained specialized in physical therapy, it wasn't a means to apply knowledge to the real world anymore. It was to understand the value of his work -- the value of taking care of someone.