Lauren Smith—Member of Pridemark Construction’s ‘Future Leaders of America’ Series

Cowan Junior/Senior High School Senior, Lauren Smith.Cowan Junior/Senior High School Senior, Lauren Smith.

By Stacey A. Shannon—

MUNCIE, Ind.—Editor’s note:  The Future Leaders of America series profiles high school seniors who display leadership qualities in their school and the community. The series is brought to you by Pridemark Construction.

Cowan Junior/Senior High School 12th grader Lauren Smith said character is one of the most important attributes of who she is. She strives to be respectful, honest and kind to all of those around her, including her teachers and school administrators.

“The relationships I’ve built with the teachers and administration here have allowed countless opportunities that I would never have had,” Smith said.

In conjunction with building relationships, Smith has also been involved in numerous activities. She participates in basketball, softball and cross country. She’s also the valedictorian of her class, a member of the National Honors Society, Key Club, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Campus Life and Tribe Mentoring.

Somehow through all of that, Smith also makes time to volunteer throughout the community. She volunteers with Second Harvest, Secret Families and picks up trash on the Cardinal Greenway while she’s running.

“I see [volunteering] as my purpose almost,” she said. “I don’t do it for me. I do it for the people I’m helping. I’m really making a difference, and I thrive on that.”

Smith pointed out she’s a competitive person and sees many of the things she does as a competition against herself to become the best version of herself. She sets goals and works to achieve them while also persevering when things don’t go well.

“Those goals I set for myself, I sometimes fall short,” Smith said. “The way that I’ve dealt with that and pushed myself harder is what I’m really proud of. I’ve had a lot of adversity this past year.”

While Smith doesn’t enjoy adversity, she does enjoy solving problems. Her success in school and managing all her activities come from solving problems and planning well. Those skills go right along with her career goal of becoming a mechanical engineer. Smith is being recruited to play basketball and looking at a variety of colleges right now.

In the meantime, she plans to finish out her senior year keeping up her pace. She stays grounded by starting some mornings with Fellowship for Christian Athletes meetings.

“I get to fuel the Christian and religious side of me, which I’m thankful I get to do that with my other classmates who equally love Christ,” Smith said.

She encourages younger students to be kind, honest and do their work. She said teachers appreciate when students are respectful and work hard, and those relationships can help students more than they may realize.

“It’s a grind every single day,” Smith said. “But I thrive on that. I love it, so I don’t complain much. I really appreciate what Cowan has to offer here.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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