Future Auburn student aspires to double major

Hayden Pinto, Staff Writer • June 11, 2024

With two areas of interest in mind, senior Caden Lagestee begins the drive to Alabama. He is in search of a school that will fulfill his various passions. With Auburn University on the horizon, Lagestee can see the famous Samford Hall becoming bigger and bigger with every street sign he passes. He steps out of the car and walks around. He has found home.

“I’ve always wanted to be in pre-med because I’ve always loved being helpful to others, and just being the person that can help get people the treatment that they need has always been very special to me…it’s just very fascinating to me and I’ve always just wanted to be a part of that… I do music because I enjoy it and you meet a lot of great people and learn life lessons along the way,” Lagestee said.

During his time in high school, Lagestee took advantage of the various opportunities offered both at Wando and at the East Coo- per Center for Advanced Studies.

“I already had my plan set on pre-med since I had already been taking classes in high school on the biomedical track. After hearing about their band program I really wanted to continue band [in college]… there’s been so many things in Wando band that have provided me with skills other than music, you learn stuff like time management, perseverance, dedication, all those really strong life lessons that will help you get far ahead,” Lagestee said.

Feeling well equipped to enter both fields of study, Lagestee looked for a university that would offer programs for both of his passions.

“The reason I chose Auburn was mainly just [because of] the people there and the campus itself felt a lot like Clemson but there was a lot more around in the actual town,” Lagestee said. “The band program and medical program there were definitely some of the top things.”

While researching Auburn, Lagestee was pleased to find that he did not have to choose between music and pre-med.

“I mainly decided to double major because I wanted to keep band a part of my life and the medical track is going to be my primary major and my band major will be kind of in the background,” Lagestee said.

Although double majoring offers more flexibility after graduating, it can put a lot on an individual’s plate.

“I’m expecting an insane workload and never having any freetime to do anything whatsoever,” Lagestee said. “But I know it’ll be worth it in the end.”

Senior transforms life long love into a reality

Lili Ambrose, Entertainment Editor • June 11, 2024

A life-long interest is now becoming a reality for senior Austen Boselowitz, as she intends on majoring in forestry at Mississippi State University this upcoming fall.

Having attended Cape Romain Environmental Education Charter School, Boselowitz’s passion for nature sparked early on and continued on throughout her time at Wando by taking classes such as environmental science and biology.

“I went to CREECS, which is Cape Romain Environmental Education Charter School for like six years and so I went from third to eighth grade, so that’s kind of how it started,” Boselowitz said.

Although a fear of heights may have gotten in the way of a younger dream career of Boselowitz, a new-found interest in a park ranger career will be supported by her uncommon major.

“I’ve been kicking the idea around [of] being a park ranger. I did want to be a smokejumper, it’s when they’re in the airplanes and then they jump out and put out wildfires. Which would be really cool, but I’m really scared of heights,” Boselowitz said.

Just like many other high school seniors, the college application process was not an easy one for Boselowitz. Since forestry is not a common major, her options were limited as she searched for her major in closer states.

“Clemson… as far as I know [has my major], and I applied there… that’s the closest place but then I applied to Auburn, Mississippi, and University of Tennessee,” Boselowitz said.

Through the help of the process of elimination and scholarships, Boselowitz finally

made her choice to attend Mississippi State University.

“I applied to Colorado State, and I was really hoping to go to Colorado State, but it’s really far and expensive. I got like a $21,000 scholarship for Mississippi State, which puts
the tuition lower than some in-state schools,” Boselowitz said.

With intriguing classes and outdoor activities and clubs in store, Boselowitz is looking forward to experiencing more within her passion for the environment.

“I think the classes will be fun. Whatever I ended up doing.. There’s also… the things that have to do with, environmental stuff,” Boselowitz said. “There’s a bunch of hiking
and camping…I’m just throwing myself into new things.”

Senior begins preparation for career in the Navy

Lili Ambrose, Entertainment Editor • June 11, 2024

Beginning the start of a new life, senior Daniel Davidson enters the preposition phase of entering the Navy. To initiate the process of enlisting into the Navy, Davidson is required to complete a series of tests, along with the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, ranging from world history to automotive knowledge. After Davidson passed the ASVAB with flying colors, he began to prepare for other tests, such as a cyber knowledge test.

“Essentially, you meet up with a recruiter and your recruiter, they talk to you, they get you to take something called a PiCAT, which is an ASVAB. And as is a military aptitude test, that basically tests your overall knowledge of the world. It’s not like a stan- dardized test. It has math, reading compre- hension, but it also has mechanical compre- hension, automotive and shop, assembling objects, all that kind of stuff… my ASVAB score was a 97,” Davidson said. “After you take that and you sign papers, you’re going to notice, maps is essentially a giant medical screener, where you also do tests that maybe has an extra few tests.”

“And not only are you taking the ASVAB, you also have to take a coding test and a cyber knowledge test,” Davidson said.

Although Davidson’s career path is a strenuous one with an 80 percent drop-out rate, his devotion to become a Navy SEAL is unbreakable as he has planned his entire future upon it.

“When I was a little kid, I originally wanted to be a Marine but then I saw this video about Navy SEALs and how they are operators, and they do stuff no one hears about and I’m like ‘that is so cool. That is what I want to do’. What’s also nice about the Navy SEALs is that they only have two military bases in the whole world.”

“There’s one in California [and] one in Virginia so I can’t move around a whole lot… that makes it much much easier to have a home life,” Davidson said.

As each day passes, Davidson is currently enduring the hardest transition for his intense career path by balancing school and being physically active and healthy, working on being the best person he can be to enter the Navy.

“Right now it’s up to my physical training, it’s so much because it’s also a lot of time, swimming a lot more. I’m running at least 40 miles a week. We’re lifting three to four times a week and a lot on top of schooling and stuff…on top of trying to maintain my running and pull up efficiency, push efficiency, so you see all that, it’s just a lot to compile. I think that would be my hardest adjustment so far,” Davidson said.

Senior travels across the country for faith and service

Simone Nihalani, Sports Writer • June 11, 2024

Diversity is crucial for a school as large as Wando, from race, personality, and religion, Senior Sarah Cluxton presents the diverse aspect of her Morman religion to Wando. Her journey in her faith continues as she will be attending Brigham Young University in the fall.

As there were many colleges open for Cluxton to attend, she decided on Brigham Young University as it satisfied her wants and needs.

“There were a couple of times where I wanted to look around at other colleges, but I, at the end of the day, knew that the environment at BYU would be the best for me,” Cluxton said.

Not only is Cluxton’s faith the reason for her new academic journey, but also the opportunity the college presents.

“I am most excited about meeting people because there are going to be a lot of people there who share the same values as me and I will make some of the strongest relation- ships,” Cluxton said.

With all the great factors that lead Cluxton to her choice of college, she also wishes to participate in a mission trip. Her trip is on the longer end.

“I will be going on a mission trip in January of 2025… The way the process works is that I will put in my papers starting in September and then the leaders of my church will view all of my information and they will assign me to a mission and they are all over the world,” Cluxton said.

Being a part of her community is very important to Cluxton.

“[What I do] depends on which mission I go on. There are some specifically for service missions where you are just serving but then there are also prosoline missions where I will be sharing the gospel of my church and trying to get people to convert to it,” Cluxton said.

She has prepared herself much in advance by already joining the church she wishes to be a part of in the BYU area.

“I will be going to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,” Cluxton said. Along with her hope for spreading the word of her church, Cluxton has had a positive impact from her religion.

“I would say my religion shapes everything about me. I feel like that joy and light that I have because of my religion allows me to be the person that I am and it helps me to take things on and look for the best in everything,” Cluxton said.