By. Lawren Miller

Melissa Berg, Academic Success Counselor for BOCES, carried a weight at her age that most people will never know- the knowledge that when she needed new kidneys, two strangers gave her the chance to keep breathing. At just fifteen-years-old, she received what many would call the gift of life. The gift came with a sense of responsibility that Berg spent the last decade trying to honor through sheer tenacity.

Berg’s early life is anything but still. She described her early years in Casper as a “quintessential childhood,” involving everyday normal activities such as, piano lessons and playing soccer for her traveling team. 

After moving to Casper from Colorado at age five, she grew up in a neighborhood teeming with children where the one rule was simple: play outside until it gets dark.

Berg described herself as an inquisitive student at the Woods Learning Center, an institution that modeled itself after an IB or International Baccalaureate program and encouraged her to be an independent learner. She said the environment fostered a habit of always asking questions, a trait that made high school feel relatively easy for Berg.

Her sense of normalcy vanished at age 15 during the summer between her freshman and sophomore years of high school. Doctors diagnosed Berg with autoimmune hepatitis, a condition where the body’s immune system attacks the liver, which rapidly spiraled into a life and death crisis. 

What doctor’s expected to be a five-year wait for a liver transplant, escalated in just one month to a life flight to Denver where she spent six months in the hospital. 

The physical toll proved immense: Berg’s right lung collapsed, her kidneys failed, and she battled a severe fungal infection on her lower left ankle. While in Denver, she endured two liver transplants in a ninety-day window due to her body being in a constant state of stress.

This period also fractured her family’s daily life. While Melissa and her mother stayed in Denver, her father remained in Casper, working sixty hours a week to keep the family afloat, and her younger sister, Jessica, then only twelve, was often left to care for herself.

Berg said she carries a deep admiration for Jessica, who managed to maintain her own goals and check in on her sister despite the ‘craziness’ of their family life.

Living as a ‘broken up’ family for the better part of a year left a lasting mark on Melissa’s perspective on the importance of close-knit support systems.

“When you get sick, you don’t just bounce back,” she reflected, noting that she remained ill throughout the remainder of her high school career. 

Berg recalled how determined she felt to get out of the situation she was in, stating “I’ll do whatever I need to do because I just wanted to play soccer.”

Unfortunately, the medication that saved her life eventually caused the bone tissue in her knees to die, therefore ending her athletic dreams. 

Devastated, Berg continued to maintain a deep sense of those who donated to save her life. 

“Someone died to give me a chance at life,” she said. “It’s my responsibility to take care of the gift they gave me.” 

Berg’s sense of duty translated into a fierce academic drive. After a ‘meltdown’ over a 3.2 GPA during her freshman year at Casper College, she used what knowledge she had for studying, eventually earning a 4.0 and setting her sights on medical school.

A third liver transplant then tested Berg’s resilience again at age 25. 

Just as Berg was preparing to apply for medical school and enter a master’s program, she discovered she needed a third liver transplant due to hepatic artery stenosis. The scar tissue had closed off the artery, necessitating another major surgery. 

Then shortly after, Berg received a hip replacement due to further complications from her long-term medical journey.

Makayla Ruebush, a friend and colleague of Berg, described her as, “Incredibly determined and competent,” noting that she is the person you go to if you need help finding a solution to a problem. Berg herself identifies grit as her most unique trait. 

“I think what makes me unique more than anything is my tenacity,” she explained. “I’ll fail at something two or three times, but if it’s something I really want, I’ll try again.”

For over ten years, Berg aimed her tenacity at becoming a doctor. 

However, continued health complications eventually forced her to let go of medical school, a transition she describes as a period of “mourning time.” She said the grief felt similar to when she lost soccer. 

To gain perspective, she moved to Seoul Korea to teach English for three years, arriving just as the COVID-19 pandemic began. Berg said she found the experience eye opening, challenging her cultural assumptions and providing a necessary distance from her medical history. The time allowed her the mental room to pivot her life goals. 

Today, she pivoted to pursuing an MBA while serving as a BOCES counselor. Ruebush sees the depth of her commitment to this new path, noting “how much she genuinely cares about the long-term success of the students she works with” and is a “fierce advocate” for students, viewing higher education as a vital “tool for improving a person’s standing in life.”

In moments of advocacy, her colleagues often see Berg push her glasses up on her forehead when earnestly explaining a solution, only to forget they are there and lose them moments later.

Berg also values kindness over ‘niceness,’ believing genuine kindness requires a level of honesty and introspection that is rare.

Berg views her role as vital for social mobility, stating her goal is to make higher education “accessible to everybody” particularly for first generation college students.

Now Berg has embraced a “very calm” lifestyle. She finds joy in simple routines: traveling, teaching knitting classes, and hanging out in her apartment with her dog, Albus Puggle.

She maintains a lighthearted presence in the office, keeping ‘the good candy’ in her workspace and offering dry quips that require a sharp ear to catch. 

Ruebush observed that after overcoming an “unfair amount of things,” Berg likely values a life where she doesn’t have to “fight so hard just to feel like life is normal.”

Berg agreed with Ruebush’s observation, often reflecting on a peaceful night in Denmark following her third transplant when she was 26 as a turning point in her perspective. Sitting on a porch with family, playing games and eating Danish food under a perfect sky, she realized she was experiencing a ‘simple joy’ she once thought was lost forever.

Her advice to her younger self is to “relax and let go of the things you can’t control.” From the intensity of the soccer field to the quiet focus of her knitting needles, Berg’s life is a testament to the idea that one cannot control the hand they are dealt, but one can choose the tenacity with which to play it.

Looking at her life today, Berg said, “I marvel at it. Through everything, I got to that peaceful aspect of life.”