Hard work and determination have been the keys to success for Kolby Wasserbeck. And the Elgin High School senior encourages his younger classmates to make sure that those traits are part of their toolkit for life.
“A lot of people look at school and think you have to be smart to do well in school, but you don’t,” Wasserbeck explained. “I wouldn’t consider myself of above-average intelligence, but I work hard. And that’s really what school is, just work hard and get your stuff done and you will do well. People who do well in school aren’t necessarily the smartest ones, they just work hard.”
Wasserbeck has been a member of the marching band and the cross country and track and field teams. He plays trombone in the band. He has participated in band for six years.
“I like the people in band. Our director (Lance Schwartz) is really nice and he’s really just a great director,” Wasserbeck said. “I just like to make music.”
Wasserbeck said the entire band experience has been enjoyable for him.
“We get to play during the Friday night football games and that’s really fun,” he said. “Being under the lights and playing rock songs and songs that I grew up around is really neat. The whole team experience just draws you in. It’s really nice and it’s just cool. Learning to march was a cool experience, too.”
Like band, Wasserbeck said competing in track and field and cross country has been enjoyable. He began his distance-running career in track and field in middle school and has been part of the Comets cross country squad during his entire high school career.
“I really like all of the people involved in it and I really like our coach (Jeff Ferrell),” Wasserbeck said. “I’m a distance runner. That part is actually quite difficult, but once you get good at it and you train, you get into a rhythm. It’s an awesome thing to push yourself and set (personal records). There’s a lot to it. It’s really an interesting sport and the people in it are really great people.”
Wasserbeck said he likes the dual aspect of both track and field and cross country being both individual and team sports.
“I’ve never been the fastest guy, but I’ve slowly worked up through the ranks,” he said. “Having people to learn from and depend on is interesting. They know they can depend on me to run my race and hopefully come home with a trophy.”
Another of Wasserbeck’s favorite in-school activities is participating in science club and wildlife biology class. As a lifelong outdoorsman, learning more about animals has been enjoyable.
“I like hunting and fishing and all that stuff,” Wasserbeck said. “It’s really nice to actually know (the animals) you’re looking at when you go outside. If you see a flock of birds go by, you can say, ‘Oh, those are European starlings.’ If you catch a fish, you can know what type of fish it is. You walk by a tree, it’s nice to know what kind of tree it is.”
Outside of school, Wasserbeck enjoys playing the piano and is a disc golf enthusiast.
“I’ve played piano for about 10 years now. I play at my church (Prospect United Methodist Church) a lot,” Wasserbeck said.
Wasserbeck said people who have been the greatest influences in his life so far include his parents (Ed and Michelle Wasserbeck), Elgin mathematics teacher Mrs. Brown, Elgin track and field and cross country coach Jeff Ferrell, and Elgin band director Lance Schwartz.
As far as his future goals are concerned, Wasserbeck is going to attend Wright State University in Dayton and study electrical engineering. He’s already been preparing himself for a career in the industry. He said he’s taken several College Cedit Plus courses to meet the general education requirements for college. He’s taken classes at Marion Technical College, The Ohio State University at Marion, University of Findlay, and Columbus State Community College.
“I’ve been job shadowing at Mid-Ohio and I’m doing an internship over the summer there,” Wasserbeck said. “I only need to take on general education class in college. I’ve taken all the math I need up to calculus I, so I’ll be going right into calculus II for my first semester.”
Wasserbeck is the son of Ed and Michelle Wasserbeck of Prospect. He has two siblings.
Graduation day at Elgin High School is scheduled for May 21.
Email: ecarter@gannett.com | Twitter: @AndrewACCarter
Credit: Source link