Scholar of the Week
Clark Frierson of Richmond Community High School
By Janeal Downs
One opportunity that was very memorable for Clark Frierson was his experience at Yellowstone National Park. “I immediately felt a connection with the Earth beneath my feet, ambulance ” Clark wrote in an essay. “I took my first breath of Yellowstone air and I felt the spirit of Yellowstone awakening in me.” Despite experiencing altitude sickness from being 8, cialis 000 feet above sea level, Clark felt as if he was returning to the home he never knew he had.
As a youth leader with Ground Work USA, Clark had the opportunity to do many community service based activities as well as a chance to take a hike. While hiking, he was one of the first people to get to the top so initially, all was quiet. “I looked around and I don’t know, something just clicked with me,” Clark said. “Like, I’m a part of the Earth and it hit me that the Earth is just a big living thing.” Mesmerized by the beauty he saw, Clark was reassured that the Earth doesn’t need to be restored, but it needs people who will stop others from harming it.
This moment and his experience at Yellowstone did not change Clark’s life goals but it did shift his concentration. “Before the trip I was dead set on going into biomedical engineering, but after that I did some more research and I decided that I want to do architecture with a focus on sustainable building and urban restoration,” Clark said. He now plans to further his education by studying civil engineering. In the future, he wants to be one of the people who help plan how cities and highways are laid out and how to make communities more environmentally friendly. Currently his top choice of college is North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, NC. He has already gotten accepted into 10 schools and is also looking at other schools, such as University of Virginia in Charlottesville and the University of Maryland at College Park.
While he prepares to continue his education in engineering, Clark said his mother and brothers are big influences in his life. Seeing and learning from his brothers’ experiences of doing great things and being successful, encourages him to do the same or better.
As he prepares for college, Clark stays busy at Richmond Community High School where he currently has a 4.03 GPA. He is a member of the National Honor Society, Richmond Community High School’s Jazz Band, Richmond Community High School’s Pharaoh Ensemble, the Honor Council and the Environmental Club. He has learned a lot while attending Richmond Community High School and called it the best experience of his life. “The people, the faculty, the staff, everything about Richmond Community High school I just love, they’re just amazing,” Clark said. One lesson that he has learned from high school and will take with him to college is how important it is to just sit down and do work. “When something has to get done, you just have to make yourself do it even down to the littlest or biggest things,” Clark said.
