Scholar of the Week
David Thomas of Richmond Community High School
by Janeal Downs
When he was just in elementary school, and in about the second grade, David Thomas started to play soccer. “It was just an activity to do to get to meet people,” David said. “I played it for over 10 years, so I just always stuck with it 
and it’s my favorite thing to do.” Every winter, he looked forward to conditioning for the upcoming soccer season. He enjoyed trying new healthy things to eat and even working out. Because he wanted to eat healthy and live a good lifestyle, he has constantly been motivated to go work out by going to the gym, jogging or playing basketball with his friends. He not only enjoys playing soccer, but also watching the sport. When he first started playing soccer, his team was named after the English Tottenham Hotspur soccer, or football, team. Once he started playing, he began to watch them on TV and it is now his favorite soccer team. In high school, he played for the Huguenot High School’s varsity soccer team, and he plays club soccer for the Richmond Strikers. David’s other favorite activities include playing golf and working on cars.
Another one of David’s biggest interests is chemistry. “I first realized my passion for it during my 10th grade summer when I was in MSI (Math Science Investigators),” David stated in an essay. While working in a computational chemistry lab and researching a drug and how to make it work on a quantum level, the experience caused his interest to grow. Since then, he has decided to pursue a career in the chemistry field. Through AP chemistry and by taking engineering classes, David decided to pursue chemical engineering. One of his dream jobs would be to work at a processing plant.
With his interest in chemical engineering, David plans to attend North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (A & T) in Greensboro, North Carolina. “When I first went to visit there they had a very good atmosphere and they were just very welcoming,” David said about why he chose the university over others. One lesson he will take with him from high school to college is to not procrastinate. As his senior year came to a close, he maintained a 4.3 GPA. In school, he was a member of Partnership for the Future, Honor Council, National Honor Society, the National Technical Honor Society, and he even won a couple of competitions as a member of Future Business Leaders of America.
David volunteers as an usher for Jerusalem Baptist Church, has helped give away food to the homeless in Monroe Park, and he has also volunteered over 150 hours at J.B. Fisher Elementary School. As a volunteer at the elementary school, he helped supervise the kids, helped them with their homework and anything else his supervisor needed. Through volunteering with the school, he has learned how much “the youth look up to us.”
As his high school life has come to a close and he gets ready to pursue college, David said his mother has been one of his biggest inspirations. “Even when I didn’t want to do the work, she still made me do it,” he said. “She just kind of pushed me and helped me get the drive that I have now.” With his drive and desire to succeed, David said his main goal in life is to just be happy and work in something that he can do for the rest of his life.
