Class of 2017
Academy
Williamsburg
Nathan Fales
Philmont circa 2016
After my freshman year at Williamsburg Academy, I wasn’t too keen on the whole “online school” vibe. It was summertime and I was excited to attend football camp with the local high school team. I was done with “WA,” or so I thought... My mother agreed that I could go to the football camp as long as I went with my older sister to this week-long camping trip in St. George, Utah with people from Williamsburg. It was called Elevation. To my young mind, this was the most singular torture my mother could have imposed upon me.
Suffice it to say that week at Elevation changed my life. A strange thing happened when I went to the canyon: I made friends! Over I would laugh more, lose more sleep, and have more rad adventures than I thought possible. Cheers to y’all- the real MVPs.
Tribe.
At Williamsburg, I’ve had some amazing experiences. I’ve had the supreme honor of serving in two Student Body Presidencies with some amazing friends like Dallin Ward and Josh Earle. Burgers are special people and it’s been an honor to interact with y'all almost every day for the last four years.
Fraternizing with the Natives
When this solid chapter of my life comes to an end with graduation, I’ll get started on my rather lengthy bucket list. The next item on that list is to serve a two-year proselyting mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Budapest, Hungary. After June 28th, I’ll be spending the next twenty-four months of my life learning Hungarian and teaching people about Jesus. Not a bad gig if you ask me! (Seriously, if you’d like to say hi while I’m gone feel free to drop a line at nathan.fales@myldsmail.net) After that, I’ll head off to university and plan some more adventures! (I’m currently pretty stoked on training at a Kung Fu Academy in China for a summer or two and fighting fires for the US Forest Service.)
I’m thrilled to see what this life has in store for me. I’d like to thank my family for their support of me through everything I chose to do in high school. Thanks, Mom and Dad! To close off this lovely trip down memory line I’d like to share my favorite quote from one of the most powerful books I’ve read, Chaim Potok’s The Chosen.
“A man is born into this world with only a tiny spark of goodness in him. The spark is God, it is the soul; the rest is ugliness and evil, a shell. The spark must be guarded like a treasure, it must be nurtured, it must be fanned into flame. It must learn to seek out other sparks, it must dominate the shell. Anything can be a shell, Reuven. Anything. Indifference, laziness, brutality, and genius. Yes, even a great mind can be a shell and choke the spark.”
UPL Swagger
