Scholarship Recipient, Rising EMT Star Cheers on Charity Golf Tournament Benefiting Students

The Abraham Markosian Scholarship Endowment helped get Jonah Burton where he is today – a 19-year-old emergency medical technician who loves his job and is a scholarship recipient on track toward earning an associate’s degree with plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in emergency management.

 

So, when Jonah, currently a student at Salt Lake Community College, was asked to help promote an annual golf tournament that raises scholarship funds at SLCC, he was all in. “I would not be where I am right now without the scholarship I was provided,” Jonah says.

 

Planning is currently underway for the annual Gail Miller Utah Leadership Cup on Sept. 14. Played each year at the Hidden Valley Country Club, it has become one of the premier golf tournaments in Utah and continues to grow in popularity. As the global pandemic continues, organizers of the tournament will comply with all state and federal requirements in order to keep golfers and volunteers safe and comfortable. Just as the pandemic has complicated most things in life these days, it has created a learning and growing environment like none other for Jonah.

Jonah Burton

At a young age, Jonah recalls watching and being inspired by reruns of the 1970s show Emergency!, which depicted paramedics in the Los Angeles area responding to medical calls and treating patients before they reached the hospital. “As a kid, I was fascinated by that,” he says. “I still watch an episode here and there.”

 

Jonah comes from a family of police officers, including his father, and first responders. He knew he wanted to serve and help people like his family but was unsure in what way. Jonah struggled a bit in school before turning things around at Valley High School in South Jordan, graduating with honors. But he wasn’t sure he could afford college. An older sister of his had received the Markosian Scholarship, which is awarded to students who graduate from a Utah alternative high school like Valley. Jonah applied for and won the same scholarship and decided he would first earn his EMT certificate at SLCC. “Overall, SLCC has been more helpful than I could have imagined,” he says. Jonah was one of a few keynote speakers at a 2020 event for donors to SLCC and is generally more involved than most peers at the college. “I feel like I’m not just another student.”

Scholarship awardees Shawntell Ashby (l-r), Jonah Burton and Lupita Porras.

After securing his EMT certificate through SLCC in January, Jonah survived a rigorous hiring process to be hired by Unified Fire Authority as an EMT. He estimates going on more than 350 calls so far this year, handling COVID-19 cases, seeing every type of living situation imaginable and meeting people from all walks of life. “I’ve had more impact on people’s lives than I would have ever thought,” he says. “Going to work every day as an EMT, everyone loves to see you and welcomes you wherever you go.” He’s sat in the backs of ambulances and just listened sometimes to life stories of those far less fortunate than him, making him grateful for all that he has. “I will be forever grateful for that,” he says about the lessons he’s already learned on the job.

 

Jonah’s goals now include an education beyond SLCC. “I don’t always want to be an EMT,” he says. “I want to move up, hold a command staff position, be a captain, a chief – and I need that degree. I want to have my schooling done now and not have to go later.” To donors supporting this year’s Gail Miller Utah Leadership Cup, Jonah says, “Without your funding and providing scholarships to students, there are some who would be held back from their true success. If it takes five scholarships to put one kid on the right track and set up for the rest of their life with a career, it’s all worth it.”

Hazard warning: Beware of bears driving golf carts and carrying cans of silly string while on course.