Luke Stieritz
My name is Luke Stieritz, and I am 17 years old. I’ve grown up in a generally well-off family, I’ve always had everything I need, and I have always been loved. This up bringing has led me to have a profound appreciation for the world around me, and those who don’t have as much as I do. I have never been the “normal” kid in school, for a time I was socially ostracized because people saw me as the “weird kid.” In the years that lead up to the start of my senior year in high school, I grew to learn that what other people think of me isn’t really that important, and how all that truly matters are the standards that I set for myself and the expectations that God has for me. I live life in the moment because nothing is guaranteed, I try and have fun where I can, and I try and make the best of everything I have, because some people don’t have as much as me. So, I feel I owe it to them to at least try.
I hope my senior year will be fun and informational. More specifically I want to learn more about my career interest of firefighting, and how college works into that. This year I plan to do more activities than I have ever tried before. I am trying to make theater for the first time, I am continuing speech and debate, I am taking leadership roles in faith building communities, and I am going to try and improve who I am as a person. I know that this year will bring hardships and strife, but I also know that as long as I just keep doing my thing, just keep going, then I will see it through.
I hope that after high school I will have determined where I want to go to college and how to tie that into firefighting. Recently I have felt very interested in that profession and I really think that is what I want to do with my life. It will not be easy to get where I want to go, it will hurt a lot, and I will want to quit. But as I have learned in the past few years, don’t stop. Just keep doing what you’re doing, and you’ll end up just fine. I hope to be stationed at one of the 26 fire houses in this great city of Cincinnati, and I hope to be able to serve the community in my own unique and helpful way.