Photos by Mikala Compton

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Video by Aaron Messick and Davis Millard

Kirk Bado

Next year’s plan: Attending Belmont University to study Public and Political Law. 

Career plans: Attorney

NW Activities include: Track, Cross Country, Student Council, KUGR, Journalism, Debate, Forensics and AP Program

What is the most important lesson you have learned in high school?

The most important lesson I have learned in high school is that there will be a lot of brick walls in your life. Brick walls that pop up, at least for me, in the forms of injuries and time restraints and things like that. But those brick walls that are blocking you from getting something are not there to impede you, they are there to show you how much you want something.

What have you learned from cross country?

It really changed my life because that’s how I’m going to college — through running. I never dreamed it would be like this. I think the biggest thing I have learned from it is that excellence cannot be the goal but needs to be the standard, and that it is all individually driven. It has taught me a lot about people, and about goal-setting; it taught me so much about how to be a better person. The lessons I have learned from cross country are too numerous to count; they made me the person that I am.

What was your greatest success in high school?

I am very proud of seeing my teammates around me be successful. I quit a lot of things in high school like forensics, debate, StuCo, journalism, and I really enjoy seeing others be successful. I think the greatest success for me personally is the last two years in cross country. My accomplishment that I’m very proud of is winning the state meet my senior year and going out with that. Looking beyond the material stuff, my biggest success is all the bonds I have formed with all of these people, through cross country and through KUGR, because my dad likes to say that life is not about the destination, it’s about the journey. It’s about the relationships that we make and the bonds we form.

What do you wish you had done in high school?

have missed out of a lot of opportunities socially, maybe even academically, because I was so focused on cross country and doing well with running. I can’t go hang out after school because I have to go running, and that wears out on some of my friendships. I’m not friends with people who I would like to be. That being said, I don’t think I have had the typical high school experience, and I wouldn’t change a thing. Those experiences have changed me and made me who I am. My biggest regret is getting too caught up in the moment and not looking around me and appreciating it.

How do you think high school has prepared you for the future?

I think a lot of high school is just like what we are going to face in the real world. It might not be 7 hour days when you change places, but socially and the people that you meet and the challenges you face. The challenge of learning how to differentiate equations or the challenge of analyzing Macbeth prepares you for challenges later in life.

Interviews by Ashlee Crane and Sarah Egger