Congrats to NTHS New Inductees

Good evening everyone. Tonight I was hoping we could do a little time traveling. First, let me take you all back to when I was in eighth grade. Preparing for high school, worried about the end of the year dance, and not even thinking about my future beyond the next week. The annual field trip for the eighth graders came for us to visit Tri-Rivers Career Center and Marion Technical College. I wasn’t impressed with MTC but I also didn’t really care about anything except hey, I didn’t have to sit through classes that day. Then we arrived at TRCC. Just waking inside put me in awe. The ambassadors lined up to greet us, the excitement, the energy all had me very excited. We went from lab to lab hearing different facts and I listened to just about everything. Then we got to veterinary science. I couldn’t believe all of the animals. There were big ones and small ones, fuzzy and scaley too. The instructor, Carrie Heimlich, I already knew from participating in 4-H with her daughters. She was very welcoming as well and as ever so excited to see us all. After that first visit, I knew I would be attending Tri-Rivers for veterinary science. I had no idea when I had made that decision all of the wonderful things that would follow.

 

Fast forward to my sophomore year of high school. I was ready for that Exploring Careers Day where fellow students and teachers talked to us and demonstrated everyday tasks in the two labs we could choose to attend. I chose The Healthcare Academy and Veterinary Science. After that day, I couldn’t wait for the application to open online so I could apply. Then I waited and waited for my acceptance letter which eventually came. My mom was very hesitant. She thought I didn’t want to go to college, she thought I didn’t care about the rest of my high school career. After much discussion, persuasion, and a dinner with the teacher where she learned more information it was finally agreed that I would attend TRCC my last two years of high school.

Fast forward one more time to my first day of TRCC. I had originally attended Pleasant Local Schools because that’s where my mom teachers. Ever since kindergarten I had went there. Living in Ridgedale school district, it wasn’t ideal for me to drive over 20 minutes to Pleasant to hit maybe 15 minutes of a choir class and drive back in the direction I had just came from to then start my day at Tri-Rivers. So, I transferred to Harding High School. I had taken voice lessons from the choral director there, Jami Rawlins, since 6th grade. So finally being able to be in her class was like a dream come true for me. I was able to attend 30 minutes of class and still make it to TRCC on time and not miss anything. I’m rushing in my first day at TRCC and couldn’t remember where I was headed, what class I had first, or who my teacher was. I quickly pulled out my schedule and it said Mrs. Gentkowski who would later become known as Mrs. G. I am honestly so blessed to have had her as my first class at Tri-Rivers and I’m not just saying that to suck up. Mrs. G made me feel so much better about my first day. She quickly filled the room with laughter and ease as she explained her class to us and briefly mentioned National Technical Honor Society or NTHS. I was hooked. I was determined one day to wear that purple shirt. With lots of studying, no misconduct reports, and an application that passed, I was in. I knew what NTHS was about, but I had no idea what I was getting into.

Beginning of my senior year we received news that NTHS was in charge of Prom that year at TRCC. I was beyond excited. Before that could happen we had to elect officers. We wrote our speeches on canvas and voted with Mrs. G before school one morning. Later on the results were announced during the morning announcements, and I had been elected President. At this point, I was in shock. I was now president of NTHS and the FFA chapter here at Tri-Rivers. Senior year had instantly become a lot more meaningful and slightly stressful.

My time in NTHS helped me become me in so many ways. Aside from the 4-H, FFA, Marion County Junior Fair Board, 4-H Camp Counselor, Dance, and Musicals at Harding I was also currently in, NTHS played a very important role my senior year. I helped plan and put on a Prom. A WHOLE prom. My fellow NTHS members and I put on one of the best proms I have ever been to. Our decorations, music, and response we had was more than we could have ever imagined. Aside from prom, we also hosted a Christmas party through the Angel Tree Christmas program for children in our area with incarcerated parents. This hit me and several of my fellow classmates hard. Being able to go out and shop for these kids, one of them being my second cousin, Chloe. I had never heard of this organization until coming to TRCC and had never even thought about my cousin being apart of this. Her dad had never really been involved and it just never crossed my mind until we received the list of names for those kids we were sponsoring that year. My cousin and her mother, Lindsay, has given her kids everything they’ve ever needed and I’m very proud of her for all she has accomplished. This is simply a way for Chloe’s dad to show her he still cares and thinks about her and her younger sister. This organization made my holidays just a little more special that year.

NTHS is so much more than something that looks really good for college or a job, but shapes you into an adult showing you the good and the bad. It helps open your eyes a little more and to be grateful. It also teaches you about working alongside others you may not have always gotten along with. It taught me that community service is actually fun, planning a prom is stressful and exciting, but that all those good grades meant something. Through NTHS and my grades I was able to apply and receive the Jon H. Poteat scholarship. I was one of 250 students in NTHS across the nation to receive this. Yes, NTHS does have its benefits. Wearing purple shirts some Wednesday, having meetings that felt more like hang outs, and yes it looks good for college and jobs and so on.

From NTHS I was able to take even stronger leadership skills to college, quickly learn about money management from prom, and how much more our NTHS group can actually do. All the different events and activities that out NTHS group put on, only sets the bar higher for this current school year and years to come. Current and new inductees, your remaining time here will go by fast. Don’t forget to stop and enjoy the memories and most importantly that you will survive. I hope you all top everything the seniors last year accomplished and set the bar even higher. If I could rewind a year, I would. Everything flew by for me during my time here. TRCC was one of the best experiences of my life, thus far. Thank you for inviting me here tonight, I wish you all the best of luck in your career with National Technical Honor Society.

—Hayley Stiverson