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.
By Stacey A. Shannon—
SELMA, IN—For the past few years, Peyton Felty has spent time learning and perfecting pool trick shots. The Wapahani High School senior enjoys playing pool and having an opportunity to use it for ministry through Gospel Trick Shots.
In fact, he recently took part in a video for his church showing a trick shot and has since had numerous classmates talk with him about it.
“My mother decided to post [the video] publicly,” Felty said. “I’ve had a lot of people come up to me at school saying it was a nice shot, and I get to talk to them about it. It lets me spread the word of Christianity.”
When he was 12, Felty got more serious about pool and has continued to grow and improve ever since. He spends most Friday nights playing at the American Legion in New Castle and is pursuing the junior pro league.
“There are more options than people realize,” Felty said. “It can be hard to get into them.”
But Felty isn’t a one-hit wonder. Along with shooting pool trick shots, he played soccer all four years of high school after starting the sport in kindergarten. He is also serving as one of two IT interns for the school corporation this year.
In balancing sports, pool, church activities and his studies, Felty said his main method has been persistence. He just keeps going to make sure everything gets done.
“I just kept trying as hard as I could to not fall behind in other subjects while also pursuing what I love to do,” Felty said.
After he graduates this month, Felty plans to take a gap year before starting college to take some classes at Ivy Tech Community College and get some work experience.
Ultimately, he’d like to go into either graphic design or IT. He’s looking into Purdue University, Indiana University East or Ball State University as potential options.
In thinking back on his four years of high school, Felt said he’d tell students coming up behind him to stay on top of their schoolwork.
“Do your homework when you get it,” he said. “If you’re someone like me and you forget easily, then you have to deal with having less time than you originally did…and it will affect your GPA.”
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