Senior Sam Balest is getting closer to graduating and taking that next step forward in his life. Balest has not been a member of the Lakeview school district his whole life, while attending JFK during his Pre-K years until the 5th grade, moving to the Lakeview school district during the 6th grade.
Balest has been an active member of the district, being a three year varsity letter winner of the football team, while also contributing to the community with his consistent help within Mrs. Petrunia’s food pantry. Balest’s contribution to the Lakeview football team ended up paying off for him, giving him multiple offers to play football at the next level in college. Such as, Mercyhurst University, Baldwin Wallace University, Wooster University, and Washington and Jefferson College. Unfortunately, Balest put his body through a lot continuing to play football in high school when he should have stopped, so he was unable to accept any of the college level offers he received.
Balest’s decision on where he wanted to attend college took a while to decide on, due to deciding whether or not to put his body through more constant pain, or get the normal college experience. Balest finally decided to continue to academics at West Virginia University to major in education and room with his best friend Jake Nicholas.
I asked Senior Jake Nicholas how excited he was to have the opportunity to attend college and room with his best friend. He exclaimed, “I am very excited to be able to have the opportunity to gain the college experience alongside my best friend Sam Balest.” Nicholas sounds very excited to start college with Balest by his side!
When Balest was asked what teacher influenced him the most, he expressed, “I think Mrs. Hogue has influenced me the most. I have been through many reading and writing classes at both the high school and college level. Her advice and expertise is the best available and I appreciate all of the hours she put into helping better my writing and reading ability. Not only that, but her personability, being able to talk to whoever, whenever they need it most.” It seems that Balest is very appreciate of the high school English teacher Mrs. Hogue, some may say she was the one that made Balest interested in education.
Balest has always been a very social person inside and outside of school, making everyone feel involved when he can, but also having his specific friend group that he hangs out with most days. When he was asked about his favorite out of school memory with his classmates, he described, “hanging out with the people closest to me almost every weekend throughout my four years in the high school. I think you could count on one hand how many weekends we took off because we ‘didn’t want to hang out.’ Those people are incredible men that will be extremely successful in their own chapters of their lives, and I cannot wait to see what their futures hold.” Balest was lucky enough to have a friend group like this throughout his four year in high school, and they have really shaped him into the person he is today.
Balest exclaims his thoughts and feelings about his next step in life after high school, “I am ecstatic about moving to Morgantown to attend West Virginia University, meeting the new people down there, going to football games, I hope and know it will be a blast and I cannot wait.” Balest is very ready for high school to be over, experiencing some extreme senioritis, and excited for the next step in his life to begin.
Good luck to 2024 senior Sam Balest as he takes the next big step within his life!
