Tuesday, June 17, 2025
For Erick Diaz, Kate Santoli, and Kevin Langbart, the journey to medicine began in the same hallways—those of Lynbrook High School.
A 2018 Lynbrook High School alumnus, Langbart recently graduated from the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. He will begin his general surgery residency there this July.
Reflecting on his high school years and the start of college, he said the rigor and mental demands of preparing for medical school were challenging, but ultimately, worth it.
Meanwhile, students Santoli and Diaz will begin their college journeys after graduating high school this June.
Diaz, Lynbrook’s 2025 salutatorian, will attend Johns Hopkins University this fall with his sights set on medical school, driven by the personal experience of watching his grandmother battle illness from afar.
“She doesn’t live in the U.S., so there were a lot of challenges with communication and care,” Diaz said. “That definitely inspired me. I want to be part of addressing disparities between countries when it comes to medical care.”
Valedictorian Kate Santoli will start classes at Washington University in St. Louis, and plans to major in cognitive neuroscience— a path cemented after a summer working in a psychology lab at Hofstra University.
“We were studying the impact of childhood trauma on mental health later in life,” Santoli said. “That hands-on research really opened my eyes. It made me realize I wanted to study the brain and mental health in a deeper way.”
Principal Matthew Sarosy said Diaz and Santoli are two of eight students involved in the science research program, and the school district praised their accomplishments.
“They represent the best of what Lynbrook has to offer,” Sarosy said. “We’re incredibly proud to see them carrying our values into the world of medicine.”
Both students credit Lynbrook’s science research and AP Chemistry programs with providing them not just academic rigor, but real-world skills.
“These programs are about more than just science,” said science teacher Chuck Vessalico. “They teach students how to do science—how to communicate, how to publish, how to work in the field. It prepares them for anything.”
The impact of those programs is something Kevin Langbart knows well.
Langbart's path was personal, he said. His father battled a rare mitochondrial disorder called NARP syndrome. Watching his father navigate multi-organ complications, Langbart learned firsthand the power of medicine.
“I helped my dad manage his illness every day,” he said. “But what really inspired me was the impact his doctors had, not just on his health, but his outlook. They gave him hope. That’s what I want to do for others.”
Langbart entered college as a pre-med student, but it wasn’t until his father passed away during his sophomore year that he fully committed to becoming a doctor.
“That loss gave me clarity,” he said. “It pushed me to go all in.”
Langbart was accepted into Stony Brook’s competitive three-year MD program, which provides a direct path into residency.
He will stay on Long Island, where he also runs a tutoring business, often working with Lynbrook students.
On Thursday, he presented the Langbart Family Scholarship at the school’s annual awards night in memory of his father and grandfather.
“The scholarship goes to a student who’s shown resilience and perseverance,” Langbart said. “Those are the qualities I saw in both my dad and grandpa.”
Langbart said he advises Diaz and Santoli, and any student that wants to pursue medicine, to reflect on their motivations, and remind themselves of the end-goal.
“You really need to make sure that this is your passion and your true calling,” Langbart said. “If it's not, those long hours that you're spending studying, in the hospital on your rotations and all the time and effort that you put into making this career possible, will become extremely dreadful and difficult.”
