Pierce College student publishes first book

David Chernobylsky 19, microbiology major, sits on the stairs of the Center of Sciences building holding
David Chernobylsky 19, microbiology major, sits on the stairs of the Center of Sciences building holding “The Perspective”, which is about his volunteer work at local hospitals, Photo: John Gutierrez

 

It all started in a patient’s room at Kaiser Permanente when David was 17-years-old and had just started recording his experiences as a medical volunteer.

The first person he had ever read to couldn’t speak. She was hit by a car on the side of the Los Angeles 101 freeway and had brain damage.

She couldn’t talk, yet David sat by her side as her novel companion. He read to her his English textbook which included William Blake’s poetry and when he was done she said, “Thank you.”

“The doctors and nurses came in and they were like what did you? And I am like I just read to her,” this is one of the many experiences compiled in his book The Perspective — A Medical Volunteer Experience.

David Chernobylsky is a 19-year-old Microbiology major at Pierce College, who in the summer of 2012 got his big break when Amazon offered to publish his book. Some people may be wondering how to self publish a book, especially if their dream is to make a name for themselves and become an author. Everyone’s path is different. David’s story to getting a book published would be different from someone else and so on. With that being said, at least knowing the basics could be a step forward in one day publishing a book of your own.

The Perspective — A Medical Volunteer Experience, offers Chernobylsky’s first-hand experiences in the medical field while volunteering at Kaiser Permanente in Woodland Hills.

“I started the Novels Companion Program at Kaiser as a literary therapy program by reading to patients,” said Chernobylsky.

He started his book on January 1, 2011, when he decided to record everything that happened to him given that he had two near-death experiences before the time he was 18-years-old. He was afraid of dying, and he wanted to leave something behind.

“I got a second and a third chance at life so I was like I want to do something with it and decided to log everything that I was doing. I logged an entire year,” said Chernobylsky. “The first day of that year (2011) I went to Kaiser and I saved someone’s life! This man was choking in his car at the parking lot. I reacted, put him in the chair, and wheeled him into the emergency room.”

He shared the incident with his family and friends, who suggested that he should record his experiences.

“In the book, I was recording everything, my interactions with people and it kind of went from there,” said David. “Ever since my experience at Kaiser I kept writing and it flowed.”

David has volunteered at different medical facilities, which include UCLA, Ronald Reagan, USC Tech, and Kaiser Permanente.

Vera Chernobylsky, David’s mother who also is his copyright attorney, was aware that he was taking notes while he volunteering, but didn’t realize that his logs would soon become a book.

“We knew he was taking notes while he was volunteering but we didn’t know that he had taken his writing so seriously,” his mother said. “It was only after he had met with James Bailey, did he let us know that he had the intent to publish the book.”

James Bailey, author of Man Interrupted and a Los Angeles Times Best Selling Author, helped Chernobylsky to edit his book and directed him on what do when he was ready to send his book to editors.

“He made it not stressful. He toned it down. Honestly, I met him there and it kind of just went from there. It was completely unexpected. He really helped me on how to set it up and shoot,” said Chernobylsky on Bailey’s support.

“He actually did a review of my book, he really liked it after he helped me to edit it for a couple of months. He took me under his wing and told me who to email, and who to talk to,” said Chernobylsky. “How to set up my cover for emailing editors, which I did but the replies still weren’t very nice.”

While writing his book, he was still going to school at Pierce and kept busy with an active lifestyle.

His journey was not an easy one. He recalls that it was a challenge to balance writing the book and going to school.

“It was a lot of work for me to do it continuously, but it was rewarding,” said Chernobylsky.

The biggest challenge he had was getting his book published.

“I sent the book out to different editors. I tried to get it out there, but the responses were less than nice,” said Chernobylsky.

It took a while for his book to get noticed until he got an email from Amazon telling him about a new program they had.

“We have this program if you are interested and you can put your book in it, even before I got the copyrights done because my mom is my copyright attorney and everything so I got that done after that, and amazon is my publisher now,” said Chernobylsky.

His mother describes David as energized and caring since he was young. Always involved in sports, and traveling alongside his father’s side.

“He is not only nice to the people around him but he also truly cares for their well-being. When I see him, I see that he is very involved in taking care of the patients that he visits at the hospitals and everywhere around him,” said Chernobylsky. “He is also very well-rounded in that he works well with others and is also able to concentrate very well at the task at hand.”

Brianna Gribin, a Psychology major at Cal State Northridge knows David and is currently reading his book.

“It is very enlightening so far,” said Gribin. “I like the quotes at the beginning of each chapter and hearing the experience of a high school-aged volunteer as well as his trials and tribulations experienced at that age.”

His family and friends share David’s joy in getting his book published.

“We were very happy and proud. He accomplished a very big achievement and we know that he put a lot of time and effort into the process as a whole,” said Chernobylsky’s mother.

Today he is not only a writer, but also a full-time student, a scuba rescue diver—a scuba diver with a license to rescue people—, a surfing enthusiast, a comic book artist, and the president of the Jewish students club “Hillel” at Pierce College.

“School is school, but it’s more of a brain kind of work. The other half is basically doing everything physical like going to the gym or hiking, something that doesn’t involve sitting,” said Chernobylsky. “The only problem is that it leads to not having a lot of time. I have no free time.”

Only time will tell what the future has in store for Chernobylsky. He would love to write another book but he says that his priorities right now are being a student first, and a writer second.

David Chernobylsky’s book, The Perspective — A Medical Volunteer Experience sells on Amazon for $14.99 paperback and $6.99 for an eBook.