The arrival of May each year marks the end of one chapter for many and the beginning of an exciting new one as high schools and colleges conduct graduation ceremonies.
This month, 501 LIFE celebrates “Education and Inspiration” by profiling six seniors from high schools in Faulkner County.
School officials were asked to select one senior who had overcome personal difficulties or challenges, and inspires others.
Nathan Lee “Nate” Carlock
Mayflower High School
Favorite school memory: Playing football.
Graduation: May 20
Interests/activities: Football, hunting, being a firefighter. (A volunteer firefighter for the Mayflower Fire Department for about the last year, Nate is following in the footsteps of his grandpa, William Hoof, who is a fire chief in Monroe, La.)
After graduation: Attend the law enforcement academy and become a police officer.
Personal difficulty/challenge: Being shy.
Who helped you succeed: My parents (Rebecca and Shye Carpenter) and my history teacher, Mrs. Sabrina Thacker.
Advice to other students: Never give up on your goals.
Taneisha Jernigan
Conway High School
Favorite school memory: Participating in athletics and cooking in French class.
Interests/activities: Basketball, reading, movies and doing Sudoku.
Graduation: May 22
After graduation: Attend Arkansas State University in Beebe.
Personal difficulty/challenge: In the summer of 2007, I was in a bad car accident on the way to a wedding in Lake Village. (It was raining when the car Taneisha was riding in flipped. She and another passenger suffered serious injuries when they were ejected.)
I don’t remember a thing about the accident. I just remember waking up on the rehab floor at Arkansas Children’s Hospital (two weeks after the wreck).
The accident left me with a disabled arm and a little memory loss. (At the first hospital where she was treated, doctors had wanted to amputate her arm. She was later transferred to Arkansas Children’s where she received extensive treatment.)
Who helped you succeed: My family, friends and teachers.
Advice to other students: Never give up. Even when things get hard and tough, just know that people do care for you. No matter who you are, you are needed in this world and you deserve the best.
Kalee Johnson
St. Joseph High School
Favorite school memory: When I received my senior ring.
Graduation: May 17
Interests/activities: Working with animals, drama club, book club, writing poetry, drawing and hanging out with friends.
After graduation: Attend Arkansas Tech University. I wish to become a veterinarian for horses. I want to get into vet school and start a career working with the animals I love. Horses are my passion.
Personal difficulty/challenge: I have ADHD (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder). Dealing with it is hard, considering it’s difficult to focus on what’s important. Most of the time it’s hard to concentrate and my life suffers. But over time my teachers and parents helped me somewhat work through some of that. It is still not easy all the time – nothing in life ever is – but it is something I work through every day.
Who helped you succeed: My parents were and are always supporting me. They have been the driving force that’s kept me going. I love them so much for it too.
My sister in heart, Angel, also helped me through my troubles. My teachers have helped me immensely and I’m thankful for their help. Always I will remember their generosity.
Advice to other students: Stick with your education and don’t give up. It may be hard sometimes but in the end it’s worth it. Everything you do in school has a purpose and at times it might be hard but eventually everything will pay off and the rewards will be great. Work hard. Never give in to the pressure, and always keep your goals in sight and your dreams in your heart, and great things will come your way.
Brian McCaster
Conway Christian High School
Favorite school memories: Laughing with friends and wearing the eagle costume at school basketball and football games.
Interests/activities: I’ll try any sport. I love TV, movies, cars and new experiences.
Plans after graduation: I plan to attend the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and double major in business and Spanish.
Graduation: May 17
Personal difficulty/challenge: (Brian describes the year he spent in Paraguay as an “eye opener.”) It’s extremely difficult to recall any significant hardships in my life because I am so optimistic. But one difficulty that I had was embracing the Paraguayan culture last year. Learning the language was the most frustrating and tedious of my activities abroad.
Who helped you succeed: My host family was extremely patient with me, especially my mom. My Spanish teacher there helped to build my foundation while all of my friends helped me to grow accustomed to hearing it all everyday.
Advice to other students: Never be afraid to try something new. Be a leader, not a follower. Never, ever, ever, never PROCRASTINATE!!!
Nakeia Guiden
Guy-Perkins High School
Favorite school memory: When I was moved up to the senior high basketball team my ninth grade year, our team achieving a record of 43-3, and winning the Class A state championship and I got All-State.
Graduation: May 16
Interests/activities: I’ve played basketball all my life, since I was a little girl. I love to play basketball, shop, travel a lot and relax. I’ve played tennis, run track and played summer basketball since third grade until now. I like to help others in any way I can.
After graduation: I plan to go to the University of Central Arkansas to play basketball and to pursue my lifelong dreams in coaching and physical therapy.
Personal difficulty/challenge: I was hit by a firecracker in the eye and so I have been blind in my right eye for about four or five years. I know the Lord made this happen for a reason. It made me the person I am today and it still encourages me to keep going for my dreams and not to give up because of the obstacle.
Who helped you succeed: My mother (Nadean Guiden) and my brothers (Keane and Isaac) played a major part in helping me succeed. When I got hit, nothing changed between us except they saw me keep going and play the sport I love which is basketball. They saw more potential in me than before and they knew I could do anything I wanted. My friends helped me too because they knew what happened but yet they didn’t shy away from me. My teachers also helped. My basketball coach (John Hutchcraft) played another major part in helping me succeed. He pushed and pushed me on the floor as a captain to the girls and it made me feel honored that he’d think I had the potential to lead the team.
Advice to other students: Don’t give up on your dreams just because you have an obstacle. I’ve been there and I felt that. You just have to be strong. I promise if you do not give up, you’ll have accomplished a lot and you’ll know it is possible to keep going no matter what happens.
Antoinette E. Woodall
Mount Vernon-Enola High School
Favorite school memory: Anything about school that’s not embarrassing and spending time with and getting to know the teachers.
Interests/activities: Going to church; teaching Sunday school with my fiancé; being in the band “Company of Grace” from our church; school in general.
Graduation: May 23
Plans after graduation: Getting married in July and going to the University of Central Arkansas. I plan to major in history, with an emphasis in theology, Medieval and Renaissance history. I’m interested in a teaching career.
Personal difficulty/challenge: God had a bigger plan for me. He is keeping me out of the hands of eternal damnation. Even though I wasn’t living a life of sex, drugs and alcohol, nonetheless it was sin. I was on a road to hell until Jan. 29, 2005, when God intervened. I wasn’t the girl everyone thought would be an honor student, with good manners and not pregnant, but boy I’m far from that. I am an honor student, I try my best to glorify God with my attitude and I’m morally sound.
With Him, He has helped me through the loss of our home when my dad got sick. He had a brain tumor that kept him from working, I say had one because it seems as if God has worked another miracle. My dad no longer has the symptoms and God has placed my dad, stepmother, sisters and me in the home of our youth pastors who deeply care and love us as their own. I have overcome the obstacle of losing everything and the difficulty of coping with my situation positively, all with the help and foreseen guidance of God.
Who helped you succeed: God! He is the one who knew before and after how everything is and going to be. My fiancé Tim B, my positive family, friends and teachers, who are more than just mere people; they are fighters in everyone’s struggles.
Advice to other students: Look toward God! He knows us inside and out. Without Him I don’t know where I would be. He has placed many great people in and out of my life, making me a stronger and better person to be in His kingdom. I was changed by grace, I was saved by love. “You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever (Psalm 30:11-12).”