Since she was a baby, Callie Lowery has been defying odds and pushing past doubts. Now a Mercer University senior, she has channeled the experiences of a challenging childhood into her leadership on campus. She wants to help people see that they can make a difference in the world, no matter their abilities or background.
Soon after her birth in Ocilla, Lowery was diagnosed with a rare medical condition called arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, which can cause defects in the bones and joints and affect muscles and connective tissues. She was born with a severe left club foot, no hip sockets and thumb-in-palm disorder, in which the thumb is positioned in the palm of the hand.
“Basically, the doctors took one look at me and said, ‘She will never walk, run or be independent. If she does get to walk, it will be like a robot and only with the use of crutches,’” said Lowery, a neuroscience and Spanish major on the pre-med track.
But her parents refused to accept that and set out on a path of research and second opinions. Other physicians gave them the same prognosis, but one doctor dared to disagree. Dr. Harold van Bosse at New York University’s Langone Orthopedic Hospital at Mount Sinai operated on Lowery’s foot pro bono when she was 3 months old and referred her to Dr. Jay Cummings at Nemours Children’s Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, for cast changes every week for 12 weeks and the additional surgeries that would follow. Lowery had her first hip operation at 15 months old, a controversial procedure at the time.
“Dr. van Bosse was the voice of reason that observed me and stated, ‘She shows the desire to walk, which is more important than any doubt about the surgery not working.’ Dr. van Bosse was the tie-breaker ‘yes’ after my mom had received one ‘yes’ and one ‘no’ (from other physicians),” Lowery said. “Because of Dr. van Bosse’s belief in me and in medicine, it showed me the importance of trying my very best even if there is a chance of failure, which is something I take with me in everything I do.”
In total, Lowery underwent four surgeries on her hips, two on her hands and two on her foot at Nemours, in addition to many procedures requiring casting of these areas. By the time she was 3, she had worn about 40 casts. She said “everyone was overjoyed” when she took her first steps at age 2 ½, although she had to relearn to walk many times following surgeries.
She had her last hip surgery when she was 6 years old. By age 8, she was walking without assistance from braces and orthotics but continuing to work on her strength, endurance, flexibility and fine motor skills at Nemours. Today, she continues to use resting hand splints.
“It was definitely really hard,” Lowery said. “At times, I would cry and question, ‘Why am I not like everybody else? Why do I have to work so hard at everything?’ I used to tell my mom I had to work 110% harder than everybody else just to be average. I think what pushed me is I’ve always had to push harder than the doubt. I think just knowing that there’s no other option. Keep going, sink or swim.”
Lowery said she got used to people believing she couldn’t do things and having to prove them wrong. And knowing just how far she has come — from a little girl with no hip sockets to a college senior who is walking tall — is a reminder that she can conquer anything.
A first-generation college student, she realized in high school that she wanted to be a doctor but didn’t know if college was possible for her. She applied to Mercer because all of her friends did, and she was invited to the Macon campus for Presidential Scholars Weekend.
It was Lowery’s first time on a college campus and her first interview, which didn’t go as well as she had hoped. But a month later, she got another shot when she was interviewed for the Special Consideration Program for medicine, which landed her a spot at Mercer. Lowery hopes to go to medical school and work with children as a physician.
“Based on my own experiences and how far I’ve come despite so many doctors’ ‘no’s, I want to be the one doctor that says ‘yes’ to help other people,” she said. “I think it’s really important to have representation and diversity in all areas of employment. I want to show kids you can actually be what you want to be. You are allowed to dream and to think of the impossible and achieve it.”
Lowery studied abroad in Cuba, where she learned about the country’s universal health care system, and participated in the 2024 Mercer On Mission trip to Mexico, where she taught English and health to local students. In 2025, she went with Mercer On Mission to Vietnam, where she helped fit amputees with prosthetic limbs. She said her personal experiences and the chance to work with pediatric patients drew her to the program.
“I could understand that it’s not just a prosthetic we’re giving them. It’s giving them their life back, their independence, their confidence,” Lowery said. “I left every day being fulfilled.”
Even though the work was hard and sometimes frustrating, Lowery said the Vietnamese people’s resilience and desire to walk kept her in check and motivated to do her best work.
A little handmade crochet stuffed animal gifted to Lowery by a Vietnamese girl serves as a reminder of a special connection she made during the trip. The girl returned to the Mercer clinic for a new socket for her prosthetic after outgrowing the one she had previously received. Lowery said the team was running low on sockets, so she and her partner had to expand a smaller one to meet the girl’s needs, requiring many modifications to achieve a good fit.
“Whenever she started walking, I got really emotional because I felt like I could see myself in her,” Lowery said. “I felt so much joy in helping her. Every patient that I helped was great, but I think it mixed the personal experiences plus the fact that I knew she would have to go her whole life without her leg. That’s what made me want to help her even more.”
Lowery has emerged as a leader on the Macon campus and taken an active role in numerous organizations. She is studying attention in cognitive psychology in the lab of psychology Associate Professor Dr. Dorothy Buchli. Beyond the classroom, she has worked her way up through the Student Government Association to vice president and was crowned Mercer’s 2025 Homecoming queen.
Her experiences in Vietnam led her to become a Mercer On Mission Ambassador. She was a mentor in the Opportunity Scholars Program, has served as the youth engagement coordinator for MerServe and a resident assistant since her junior year, and is involved in MU Miracle. In addition, Lowery helped to revive the Mercer Red Cross club and has been its media secretary for the past three years, and she has assisted with several service events for the Hispanic community. Outside of Mercer, she is a hospice volunteer.
Through her daily interactions, Lowery hopes to inspire others to take on leadership positions and use their personal experiences to make a positive impact on the world. She didn’t know how she would “major in changing the world” — as Mercer’s banners say — until she started to tap into her interests on campus and other involvements gradually unfolded. She wants to show her peers that opportunities abound for helping others, both inside and outside their major.
“Being in a position of leadership and having gone on Mercer On Missions, I’m in contact with tons of Mercerians every day,” she said. “A lot of people, they can tell looking at me, that girl was born a little bit different, but they don’t know my actual experience. I want to inspire people that no matter where you come from, what you’re born with, you can always help someone else, either in a big way or small way.”
