Shortly before the publication of this blog, CJ was additionally honored as the recipient of the Alpha Chi Honor Society Scholarship at CUW. Congrats, CJ!

What have you been up to?
Learning. I am currently a junior at Concordia University Wisconsin studying accounting and international business. My free time consists of golf, exercising, and studying. I joined the golf team this past spring and love the sport as it is a great stress relief from school. Over the past two and a half years of college, I have learned a lot about myself, my career, and my faith.

This past summer, I was an accounting intern at Marcus Corporation in their hotels and resorts division. There were two key takeaways from this internship, the first being that this experience solidified the fact that accounting is for me, and second, I strongly dislike rush hour traffic. However, the experience was great and I learned what “real world” accounting is like. I can firmly say that I am excited for my career and the plans that God has for me.

What brought you to LCL?
I attended a public school from kindergarten through eighth grade. LCL wasn’t where I planned to go to high school. My sister went to Arrowhead so I figured that was where I would end up as well. However, I began to learn about LCL from my Titans Select baseball teammate Chris Kornowski, who I am still friends with today.  Chris was kind enough to invite me to shadow him for a day at LCL and I enjoyed my visit. I loved the atmosphere, the school, and the students. From then on, I decided that LCL was where I would attend high school.

How did LCL prepare you for college?
LCL prepared me for college by giving me an excellent education. Also, more importantly, the school instilled in me the importance of faith and the role that faith has in my life. I was born and raised a Christian, but my faith became real once I attended LCL. Faith is the most important aspect of my life, so I wanted to attend a Christian university. Taking religion classes, going to chapel, and talking with great Christian teachers, prepared my faith for college. I couldn’t be happier with my decision to attend LCL.

What is your favorite memory at LCL?
Baseball was not my favorite sport, and I solely played it from sophomore to senior year because my mom liked to watch me play. However, my favorite memories did come from the three state baseball tournaments, specifically senior year. The memory that tops the list was the bottom of the seventh inning in the state final game. We were down 4-2 and the team moral was low because defeat was on our minds. However, we ended up persevering and getting the win. It was an excellent way to end my high school career.

Is there any advice you would like to offer to the current and future students of LCL?

 Sometimes you have to stop and smell the roses. Life happens way too fast and sometimes you must take a step back to slow down and enjoy it. The next step in life isn’t far away, so enjoy where you are currently at. My dad’s famous line is, “Don’t wish your life away, CJ.” I tend to worry about the future, but I have made a conscious effort to take life one day at a time and trust in God’s plan. Jeremiah 29:11 and John 16:33 are an excellent reminder of this. Finally, count every day as a blessing and never forget to pray.

What a remarkable gift it is to see our Lord continue to work in the lives of our graduates. We are so proud of our Lightning family and individuals like CJ who are continuing to share Jesus, shape their lives around Him, and develop as future leaders in service to their God and their community.