graduation 2012

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The Class of 2012 gets ready for the future

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gainesvilletimescom

A turn of the tAsselGraduation 2012

sunDAY, MAY 13, 2012

� Sunday, May 13, 2012

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The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes com a turn of the tassel

ali White Chestatee High School ..............................................................3

nathan Jablonski East Hall High School .........................................4

kanler Coker Flowery Branch High School ...........................................6

thuy hanh tran Gainesville High School ...........................................8

JaCkson landers Habersham Central High School ............................10

katie brady Johnson High School .......................................................1�

sahara Calderhead Lakeview Academy ...................................14

alexia Wilson Lumpkin County High School .....................................16

Mckenna and Mary kate rushton North Hall High School ...18

aleC ruppenthal Riverside Military Academy ................................�0

ViCtoria long West Hall High School ..............................................�1

thoMas rogers White County High School .....................................��

Riverside Military AcademyWhen: 11 a.m. May 12Where: Lanier Hall Quadrangle, 2001 Riverside Drive, Gainesville

Johnson High SchoolWhen: 3 p.m. May 18Where: Free Chapel, 3001 McEver Road, Gainesville

North Hall High SchoolWhen: 7 p.m. May 18Where: Free Chapel, 3001 McEver Road, Gainesville

Gainesville High SchoolWhen: 8 p.m. May 18Where: High school gymnasium, 830 Century Place, Gainesville

East Hall High SchoolWhen: 11 a.m. May 19Where: Free Chapel, 3001 McEver Road, Gainesville

Lakeview AcademyWhen: 5 p.m. May 19Where: First United Methodist Church, Gainesville

Chestatee High SchoolWhen: 3 p.m. May 19Where: Free Chapel, 3001 McEver Road, Gainesville

West Hall High SchoolWhen: 7 p.m. May 19Where: Free Chapel, 3001 McEver Road, Gainesville

Flowery Branch High SchoolWhen: 3 p.m. May 21Where: Free Chapel, 3001 McEver Road, Gainesville

Lumpkin County High SchoolWhen: 7 p.m. May 25Where: High school stadium, 2001 Indian Drive, Dahlonega

White County High SchoolWhen: 8 p.m. May 25Where: High school stadium, 2600 U.S. 129 N, Cleveland

Habersham Central High SchoolWhen: 8 p.m. June 1Where: High school stadium, 171 Raider Circle, Mount Airy

graduationdates

graduating from high school is a milestone moment. Even as

the tassel is moved from one side to the other, a young person steps from childhood into the life of an adult, the time to turn those oft-thought dreams into reality.

Some students’ dreams are big, their ambitions strong. With the help of high school principals and counselors, we’ve identified 12 of these amazing students. You’ll read their stories in these pages.

Yet we don’t offer this special section as a complete listing of outstanding students. We know the halls of our high schools are filled with many more high achievers who will do great things with their lives. In honoring just a few, we congratulate them all and their efforts to make their lives — and our community — better.

The Times is proud to share the stories of the graduates featured in these pages, and we salue all graduates in Northeast Georgia. We’re proud of them and we wish them all the best in life.

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ALI WhIte Chestatee High School

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gainesvilletimes comThe Times, Gainesville, Georgia |A turn of the tAsseL

Year in Argentina is ‘where I’m supposed to be’by shAnnon cAsAs [email protected]

scott rogers | The Times

Ali White struggled through two classes of Spanish her freshman year.

So it’s a little strange that she’s chosen to leave her home in Murrayville to spend a year learning the language in Ar-gentina.

“I wasn’t very good at it, so I’m completely confident that it will be the hardest year of my life,” she said. “But I think it will be completely worth it.”

Besides, she said she knows that’s where she’s supposed to be.

Ali first visited Argentina in 2010 with her church, River-bend Baptist Church, and she fell in love. The people are open, the food — especially dulce de leche — is amazing and it’s become a very special place for her, she said.

She did mission work, partnering with a Christian organiza-tion called Word of Life.

“I went to Argentina this spring break, and I’d been praying about it for about three to four months,” Ali said. “And then when I got back, after talking to my parents about it and just praying about it, I just knew that that’s where I was supposed to be.”

After she graduates from Chestatee High School, Ali in Sep-tember will start a bilingual program done in connection with Word of Life, which has a campus about one hour outside of Buenos Aires. For the first six months, she’ll be taking Spanish language classes and Bible classes in English. In the last six months, she’ll take Bible classes in Spanish.

Though the culture is predominantly Catholic, she said the people there are willing to listen and do not judge her. Part of that may have something to do with her being an American, but there’s more to it than that, she said.

“The people down there are so open to whatever you have

to say,” she said. “And it’s just such a special place, a place that will always have my heart.”

Though she’ll be far from her loved ones, her dad already has planned Skype video chats for every Sunday. She has some friends in Argentina already and also has a close friend from North Hall High School who will be going through the program with her.

As for life after her year in Argentina, which ends next July, she’s not sure.

“I have no idea what I’m going to do when I grow up, but I know that this will give me a firm foundation in my faith,” she said. “And also the opportunity to learn Spanish will just be so much better for my life.”

“I just know that’s where I’m supposed to be even though it will be extremely hard.”


nathan jablonski East Hall High School

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sara guevara | The Times

If Nathan Jablonski was asked two months ago what he wanted to do after graduation, he would have responded with “military psychiatry.”

Now, the East Hall High School senior has his sights set on the pulpit.

“I wanted to do psychiatry to help people from a mental standpoint, but I thought that maybe that’s not always the necessary thing,” said Nathan. “They may need help from a spiritual standpoint.”

It’s a big switch for someone who didn’t grow up as a very religious person.

“A lot of people don’t understand,” Nathan said. “They don’t exactly get it. It’s not really negative or positive, it’s just really confusion.”

About two months ago, he said he felt “some-thing was not quite right in (his) life.”

“I was seeking something, and God put the void in my life because he knew I would be seeking,” Nathan said. “Then he put (the ministry) in front of me and it fit perfectly.”

Now he feels at home. On his route to becoming ordained, Nathan will

work with his local church, Chicopee Baptist, over the next couple of years while going to school for a biblical degree.

He plans to go to North Georgia College & State University for two years in its cadet program be-fore transferring to Truett-McConnell College in Cleveland.

During that time, he hopes to learn all aspects of the church, from working with the sound board to studying the pastors and how they interact with the congregation.

“I’m trying to learn how the whole church oper-ates,” Nathan said.

He is constantly reading Scriptures and his change of heart, he said, has opened up avenues for conversation, especially with those who may not agree with his chosen path.

“I know it’s what I’ve been called to do,” Na-than said. “We’re supposed to face trials with gladness, so hopefully they’ll get curious about why I’m doing it and maybe I can lead them down a more righteous path.”

And that is what is getting him excited about the future: a position where he can help people.

That help, he said, is not as readily available as it once was.

“It’s not there any more, and I see it in the church constantly,” he said. “And I’m trying to bring that more to the world.”

jablonski feels he’s been called to pulpitby lee johnson [email protected]


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gainesvilletimes comThe Times, Gainesville, Georgia |a turn of the tassel


Kanler CoKer Flowery Branch High School

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Coker takes 4.0 GPa to tar heel football teamby lee johnson [email protected]

sara Guevara | The Times

Kanler Coker is technically a member of the class of 2012, but he won’t be walking with his classmates this month.

He’ll be on the University of North Carolina campus, working on his next goal of making it to the NFL.

Kanler, who led the Flowery Branch Falcons last year, has committed to the Tar Heels and enrolled early to get a head start on his football career there.

The 6-foot-4-inch, 205-pound quarterback, however, would not be going to his “dream school” without a little book smarts.

OK. A lot of book smarts. He graduated from Flowery Branch with a GPA above 4.0

and academics is one of the reasons he chose UNC.“I’ve always been a Carolina fan ever since I was little,”

Kanler said. “It’s also one of the best universities out there,

so the education I’m going to get I know is going to be phe-nomenal.”

He hasn’t yet chosen a major, though. As a student-athlete, Kanler said, time, along with energy, can sometimes be at a premium.

But there aren’t any excuses for failure — on or off the field.

“My parents expect me to make all A’s throughout high school and I expected to as well,” Kanler said. “You have to put in the time and sometimes I didn’t want to, but I knew school came first and then sports. You have to do well in class to play.”

Balancing the two at the next level won’t be an easy task, and Kanler knows that going into it.

“At North Carolina I know it’s going to be more difficult

(to maintain that balance),” he said. “They’ve already

talked to me about it.”

But his full athletic scholarship gives him a platform to try

to make it to the NFL.

“I want to play in the NFL,” Kanler said. “That’s my goal.

Ever since I was little I’ve had the goal to play in the NFL.

I’ve also had the goal to play Division I football and I’m get-

ting to do that, so I’m moving on to my other goal.”

Given the choice, though, between leaving for the NFL his

junior year or getting his degree before making the jump,

Kanler said he would take the latter.

“The NFL is going to stop after some time — you can only

play so long,” he said. “But the degree stays with you.”


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Thuy hanh TRan Gainesville High School

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The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes com a TuRn of The Tassel

love of cartoons fuels passion for art, animationby saVannah king [email protected]

Tom Reed | The Times

In the back corner of the art room at Gainesville High School, Thuy Hanh Tran sits at a well-organized work bench.

Several pieces of her artwork are leaning up against an easel.

“I really like anatomy,” Thuy explains.A large, framed painting of a man’s face and the layers of

muscles and bone underneath is one of her favorites. “I always like really neat stuff, really precise and realis-

tic. That’s more my style. I’m not into abstract,” Thuy said. Thuy has placed highly in several state and local art com-

petitions. Her particular style of painting has earned her a fair amount of success, but she said she’s trying to learn to loosen up.

She said learning how to sketch out ideas quickly and

more freely will help her later in her career.Several art colleges are vying for Thuy’s admission, in-

cluding Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta and Ringling College in Sarasota, Fla. She said she’s still weigh-ing her options, but Ringling has exactly the curriculum that she is looking for.

“I used to love watching cartoons because I came to America from Vietnam when I was 4. So basically I watched cartoons to learn English,” Thuy said.

Those cartoons inspired her to want to make movies, too. She said she loved to watch the behind-the-scenes footage on her favorite computer-animated movies.

“It’s been my dream since I was 6 or 7. I used to watch cartoons and say ‘I want to be an animator.’ Throughout the

years I’m kind of surprised that I still want that dream, but it’s the only thing I want to do,” she said.

She said being able to create 3-D animations will open a lot of doors for her in her career.

“The thing I like about 3-D animation is you can drift off into areas like special effects, concept art, game design. You can do so many things with that degree and that knowl-edge,” Thuy said.

She admits she’s a little nervous about leaving high school and moving away from home, but she’s looking forward to perfecting her craft.

“I’m really excited because I really want to see how I’ll grow and see my potential. Hopefully, I’ll get better,” Thuy said.


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jackson landers Habersham Central High School

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tom reed | The Times

Jackson Landers’ head has been in the clouds since he was 14 years old.

He doesn’t plan on changing that any time soon.The Habersham Central High School senior has

been taking flying lessons since his grandfather took him up in the air when he was 14.

“After than one flight, I was hooked,” said Jack-son, who currently holds a student pilot’s license and is not far from getting his full license.

He and his grandfather have taken lessons together as he works to complete that goal before graduation.

His passion for flight could lead him into a ca-reer in the air.

The plan, as it stands right now, is for Jackson to complete the first two years of college at Gaines-ville State College, then transfer to either Middle Tennessee State University or Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona, Fla., where he has been accepted, but is unable to afford the out-of-state tuition for four years.

Jackson hopes to either study aerospace engi-neering or professional flight.

“I like the sky a lot,” he said. “I’m just fasci-nated by it.”

It wasn’t always like that, though.When his grandfather took him up in the plane

for the first time, he was a little apprehensive.“I had never even flown in a plane before — big

or small,” he remembered. “So I had no clue what to expect.”

What he found, he liked, and has never forgot-ten that feeling.

“The moment we came off the ground I got an adrenaline rush and thought it was awesome,” he said.

Since then, he’s flown solo many times and says the freedom of the sky is something words cannot really describe.

“You get a feeling like nothing else really gives you,” Jackson said.

He doesn’t know if he wants to fly commercially yet, but hopes to continue to work with airplanes in some form or fashion.

“When I started studying for my first written exam, I realized I was going all the way with it,” Jackson said. “It was something that I was going to have to put a lot of time and effort into, but it was something I was willing to put time and effort into.”

landers likes his head to be in the cloudsby lee johnson [email protected]

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katie Brady Johnson High School

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sara guevara | The Times

Katie Brady is top five in her class.She boasts a 4.5 GPA and takes honors classes.Graduation for her even comes a year early. But the Johnson High School senior has cho-

sen a path that may surprise some.Katie will attend cosmetology school at La-

nier Technical College after she graduates this spring.

The 17-year-old senior, who skipped her ju-nior year, said she knows it’s what she wants to do.

That decision, she said, is two-fold.On one hand, she “loves doing hair.” It’s been

like that since her mother started cosmetology school in October 2010.

She would bring home models and they would practice hair styling together.

On the other hand, if Katie does decide to go a more traditional track after cosmetology school, she will have the means to support herself.

“Partially it’s because I have an interest in it,” Katie said. “Also, I think it’s a wise choice be-cause if I do go to college, I can support myself through that.”

Traditional university, however, isn’t in her plans right now. For one, she is only 17 and not ready to move away from home.

Secondly, and most importantly, she wants to focus on cosmetology.

And the idea of entering the workforce before any of her peers solidified her decision.

“Most kids, when they’re 18, don’t have a job that they can do well,” Katie said. “And so if I graduate from there and get my license ... I can have a good job. And it’s a trade I can learn and do for the rest of my life.”

Though many have questioned the choice, she said she didn’t make the decision on a whim.

And it had nothing to do with what her friends were doing or what was traditional.

“It wasn’t a decision that I was taking lightly,” she said. “I thought about it a lot. Both of my par-ents and I were praying about it hard. For me, it was constantly on my mind, because I had to decide very quickly.

“It was a hard decision, but I’m glad I decided to it.”

Brady skips tradition, for now, to study cosmetologyby lee johnson [email protected]

Sunday, May 13, 2012 13

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sahara calderhead Lakeview Academy

calderhead wants to be center stageby lee johnson [email protected]


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If her collegiate career is anything like her high school experience, then Sahara Calderhead just might be sleep deprived.

And she welcomes the thought.The Lakeview Academy senior is a National Merit

Scholar, a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, a state soloist winner, a staple on the Lakeview stage, and, by the way, she can surf.

“I like to be that person who has a lot to do,” said Sahara. “If I don’t have a lot to do I’m not going to get anything done, because I have no motivation. But if I’m busy all the time it’s easier for me to just do it all.”

She will have plenty to keep her busy after she leaves Gainesville.

Sahara plans to attend the University of Georgia for at least one year — she’s already committed to it.

Her future plans, however, are likely to change.She initially was going to UGA to study broadcast

journalism, with either a double major or minor in Spanish.

But after her time spent on the stage at Lakeview, especially with the last show “Grease,” she knows she can’t leave the stage behind to pursue another career.

“I realized I can’t not do it because that’s what I re-ally love to do,” said Sahara. “I think I made myself believe I couldn’t do theater and (broadcast journal-ism) was the next best thing, but then I realized, you know, what the heck, why not?”

The decision makes sense to her. It’s been imbedded in her since she was in fifth

grade, taking a role in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”

“Ever since then I’ve done theater,” said Sahara. “I love entertaining people — that’s just what I love to do.”

Since then, she has been in 14 productions, includ-ing her most recent role as Sandy Olsson in “Grease.”

“I’m excited because I get to do what I want to do,” she said. “I don’t have to do what’s expected of me. I don’t like to do what people think I should do.”

After her year at UGA, Sahara may go elsewhere. Or she may stay. She doesn’t really know.

What she does know is she wants to be on the stage and eventually directing theater at the high school level.

“I’m not sure how it’s going to turn out, but you know what, it’s kind of fun,” said Sahara.

The world is her stage and she hopes to utilize it to reach out to people — it’s what actors do, she says.

“I want to be able to impact people and I don’t think broadcast is going to end up being the right thing for me,” said Sahara.

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alexia WilSON Lumpkin County High School

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The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes com a turN Of the taSSel

trip ‘Down under’ lets Wilson start medical careerby lee JOhNSON [email protected]

In two months, Alexia Wilson will be flying “Down Under,” making her residence in New Zealand for a few months.

There, she will have opportunities to get a leg up on her future medical career, all while spread-ing her faith.

She’s embarking on a five-month journey with the volunteer organization Youth With a Mission, a Christian-based movement designed to give young people the opportunity to practice their outreach both nationally and internationally.

As a part of the program, she will spend the first three months in a classroom setting, learning more about the Bible and receiving basic medical training, equivalent to that of a volunteer nurse.

The subsequent two months will be spent in another, yet to be determined country, spreading her faith while providing basic medical care for the people there.

“I’m expecting to get stronger in my relation-ship with the Lord,” Alexia said. “It will also look good on future college applications and job ap-plications.”

But Alexia will also use this “gap year” to fig-ure out exactly what she wants to do in the medi-cal field and how she wants to accomplish it.

“I want to work in the medical field eventu-ally,” she said. “I haven’t decided on exactly what I want to do yet, but I’m hoping this will help me decide exactly what I want to do.”

That’s actually what prompted the excursion to begin with.

“I couldn’t figure out what I want to do, what I wanted to study, where I wanted to go, I couldn’t figure out any of that,” Alexia said.

So a family friend told her about YWAM, and after looking into the program, she knew exactly where she wanted to go.

“I have always wanted to go to New Zealand or Australia,” she said. “And I just got really ex-cited.”

Her family backed her decision. She said the thought of living in a different

country, thousands of miles away from home, doesn’t really scare her.

“I’m not that nervous going to another country and living there,” she said. “It’s more exciting than scary.”

She will leave for New Zealand on July 11.ScOtt rOgerS | The Times

Sunday, May 13, 2012 17

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18 Sunday, May 13, 2012

Mckenna and Mary kate rushton North Hall High School

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All their lives they have been known as “The Rushton Twins” — both on and off the basketball court.

But following graduation this year, their new teammates and friends will just know them as McKenna and Mary Kate.

The identical twin seniors are parting ways this fall, after anchoring the North Hall High School Lady Trojans basket-ball team on the way to the state semifinals.

McKenna has taken a basketball scholarship at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville and Mary Kate will play at Piedmont College in nearby Demorest.

“I definitely think it’s going to be really weird because I never imagined playing without (McKenna),” Mary Kate said. “I thought for a long time that we would play in college together, but we aren’t.”

The transition will be hard since they’ve been playing to-

gether since they were 6.“We don’t have to worry about each other because we

know we’re going to do our job,” Mary Kate said. “They say we make passes that they don’t think are open, but we know they are open for some reason.

“They say it’s our twin telepathy.” Now the two won’t be on the court together. Even more,

they’ll be more than 100 miles away from each other, after spending very few days apart growing up.

“I think it’ll be good because we are labeled as ‘The Rush-ton Twins,’” McKenna said. “People always see us together. It’ll be good to meet new friends without knowing the other one because sometimes you’re compared.”

McKenna knew since the beginning of her senior year that she wanted to play ball at the next level, but Mary

Kate’s plans were still up in the air.

University of West Georgia recruited the two together,

but the Carrolton campus just wasn’t the right fit.

Their final choices make sense for athletics, academics

and social life, they said.

“It’s going to be weird going to different places and not

seeing each other every day like we have been our whole

life,” Mary Kate said. “I don’t even think I’ve gone a couple

days without seeing her.”

The thought of having a life outside of “The Rushton

Twins” is attractive, though.

“I’m ready to be my own person — not known as a twin,

but known as Mary Kate,” Mary Kate said.

north hall twins splitting paths on way to collegeby lee johnson [email protected]


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AleC ruppenthAl Riverside Military Academy

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The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes com A turn of the tAssel

ruppenthal gets his choice of two military academiesby lee johnson [email protected]

Acceptance into one of the nation’s premier military acade-mies is rare.

But it’s even more rare for a high school senior to have his choice between two of those institutions.

Alec Ruppenthal, a senior cadet at Riverside Military Acad-emy, was accepted into both the Military Academy at West Point and the Naval Academy.

He is going to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., next month and couldn’t be more excited about his future.

“I think most people when they go to college they don’t know what they want to do until their freshman or sophomore year, or even their senior year,” Alec said. “But I know what I could pos-sibly be doing for the rest of my life at 17 years old, and I’m happy about that.”

Alec has been a cadet at Riverside since seventh grade. He is a Gainesville native and chose a military path after the 60th an-niversary of D-Day, when he fell in love with the atmosphere sur-rounding military life.

“I loved it when I was younger, and it made me want to come (to Riverside) and spark my interest,” Alec said.

It wasn’t until his sophomore year at Riverside that the Naval Academy came onto his radar.

Now he knows that is where he wants to be.He said he could have gone to Georgia Tech or North Geor-

gia College & State University for their ROTC programs, but he wanted a 24/7 experience.

“(University) just wasn’t appealing to me, and there is just some draw to the academies,” Alec said. “I think the leadership opportunities and the training there is more hands on. It’s 24/7 military.”

Getting out of the state was a plus, too.“I’ve been in Georgia my whole life,” he said. “There’s nothing

wrong with Georgia, but I kind of want to be somewhere else for a while. ... I just want to kind of go out and explore and step into adulthood.”

For acceptance into one of the academies, applicants need a nomination from a U.S. representative or a senator.

Alec’s came from Sen. Saxby Chambliss, who called him per-sonally to congratulate him on the acceptance.

“That was cool,” he said.The cadet also had to go through a slew of interviews, applica-

tions and exams , but he said every step was worth it.“People say: ‘How can you put yourself in another environ-

ment like this, where you don’t get to party every night,’” Alec said. “That’s just not for me. I’m looking forward to being around people that are similar to me.”

He plans on pursuing a medical career while there, but the program is competitive. Service warfare or aviation are also pos-sibilities.

He leaves June 28.“I’m excited,” Alec said. “I’m ready to go. I’ve been looking

forward to it for years.” sCott rogers | The Times

Sunday, May 13, 2012 21

victoria long West Hall High School

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career day visit pushes long to be a morticianby savannah king [email protected]


A funeral home wasn’t her first choice to visit for sixth-grade career day, but it was the only place on the list that wasn’t already full.

“All the other places were taken and that was the only place available... so I was like ‘OK, I’ll go,’” Victoria Long said.

Long said she was inspired by the funeral director and the obstacles he had to overcome for his career.

“He was talking about embalming, cremations and how you have to deal with the people and help them cope,” Long said.

His talk six years ago made a lasting impression on the West Hall High School senior. Now, she is preparing to study mortuary science in college.

She’ll learn about cremations, how to conduct a funeral and counsel grieving family members. But Long said there is one area that really appeals to her.

“I would want to do the part where you actually have to take care of the body,” Long said.

She’s looking forward to learning the techniques in-volved. She said she thinks she’ll be a good mortician.

“I don’t really get grossed out about anything. And I like to help people out. I just like the whole job,” Long said.

Two years ago Long toured another funeral home. She said she was particularly interested in the embalming room.

“It was interesting. It was exactly what I expected it to look like,” Long said.

Long said outside the embalming room, it’s a matter of knowing what the families must be feeling and taking that into consideration.

“Everyone has been through this and you can relate to them and just try to treat them how you would want to be treated,” Long said.

Long’s friends and family think she’s chosen an interest-ing career path and support her completely, she said.

“They think it’s a good idea. It’s a good job to have and you’ll never run out of work and you get paid pretty well,” she said. “One of my friends wants to do it now too actually.”

While her family and friends may be supportive, she still finds herself defending her decision.

“It’s more awkward when I meet people’s parents and they ask what I want to go to college for,” Long said.

She said she just explains the career path is very viable and could bring her success.

She hasn’t decided where she wants to go to school yet because she’ll be traveling around the world for the next year. She said she’ll likely go to school in Atlanta when she gets back.

She and her mother will be visiting Alaska, Hawaii and parts of Europe this year. She said she loves to travel but is very excited about starting college.

“I feel like I can get more accomplished in college,” Long said.

22 Sunday, May 13, 2012

Thomas RogeRs White County High School

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The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes com a TuRn of The Tassel

Rogers ‘imagineers’ a dream job with Disneyby lee johnson [email protected]

Tom ReeD | The Times

Many 7-year-olds have lofty career goals.Some want to be astronauts or professional athletes or

dancers.Most of the time, those dreams change down the road.Not for Thomas Rogers, a senior at White County High

School. He is on his way to becoming a Disney imagineer. Since his first trip to Walt Disney World when he was 2

years old, Thomas has been in love with everything Disney. He’s been back 17 times since.But it wasn’t until he was 7 that he realized his calling as

an imagineer. While watching TV, he saw a Travel Channel special on

Walt Disney Imagineering. From that moment, he knew what he wanted to do.

“I thought it was so cool,” Thomas said. “I thought it was the coolest thing ever to be able to build and design rides for the biggest entertainment company in the world.”

Since then, he has taken as many art classes as he could sign up for and honed his skills leading into his senior year.

Thomas still wasn’t sure, though, how he wanted to launch his Disney career.

He’d narrowed it down to Savannah College of Art and Design and the Art Institute of Atlanta.

Both colleges, he said, have a good rapport with Disney.Ultimately, Thomas chose SCAD because of the direct

opportunity to work with former imagineers and internship opportunities SCAD has with Disney.

“That really convinced me about going to SCAD,” he said.

But SCAD is only a step toward the ultimate goal. “Later in life, I would really, really love to be the director

of art and design for Disney, which is like the head imagi-neer,” Thomas said. “That’s what I want to do, eventually, with my life.”

And for Thomas, the goal of working for Disney is not prefaced with “if,” but “when.”

“I’ll get to tell my kids that I get to play in theme parks for a living,” Thomas said.

“The thing that excites me the most about this is, I’ve always lived by the quote: ‘If you love what you’re doing, you never work a day in your life.’ Well, this is something I absolutely love with all my heart and I get to do it and have fun with it.”

Sunday, May 13, 2012 23

CMYK


24 Sunday, May 13, 2012

CMYK


graduation 2012

Documents

high school stadium

high school gymnasium

high achievers

high schools

help of high school

mcever road

free chapel

lanier hall quadrangle