Members of the Fairlane Club bid farewell to Andy Isaacson at the end of April and threw him a going away party.

But the memories, laughs and perfectly-timed pie-in-the-face almost never happened.

Isaacson recalls filling out an application for a lifeguard position at the Club when he turned 16, nine years ago. His athletic director at the time, Mark Wisnewski, didn’t think he’d make it past his first two weeks.

“He was a little cocky,” Wisnewski chuckled.

But Isaacson managed to survive the first couple weeks and the following nine years. In his nine years at the Fairlane Club, there wasn’t a job he didn’t work – except owner or general manager. Management had no problem moving Isaacson wherever they needed him, from lifeguard to a desk attendant to the kid’s playroom to lockerroom attendant to summer camp counselor.

Isaacson spent the last few years as a personal fitness trainer and exercise instructor. Today, at 25, he’s making a life change.

“It’s always been my dream to become a doctor,” Isaacson said.

So, on the morning of April 25, he said goodbye to a place he’ll never forget and hello to the rest of his life.

“It’s bittersweet because I’m leaving so many great memories of that place, and so many great friends.”

He paused, and then started up again. “I’m moving on with my life now.”

The once jack-of-all-trades will now settle into his third year of medical school at Wayne State University, working countless consecutive hours at Oakwood Hospital during required clinical rotations. Then it’s off to an assigned hospital for years of a residency program before we can officially call him Doctor Isaacson.

For sure, it’s a stressful and sleepless schedule that could swallow anyone’s life.

“My schedule now is always rotating,” Isaacson said.

If he uses the same approach that helped him wear many hats and solve any problem in previous years, he’s sure to succeed.