In March, I had the chance to have a conversation with a very accomplished young man here at West High School. I was pleased that Ethan Mederios was able to take time out of his busy day for our interview.

Not only is Ethan an academically talented student, Ethan is also an athlete.

While asking  how are you able to stay focused in school while being a full-time athlete, I learned that his success comes down to his skills in time management and managing his priorities. He orders what is most important at the top of his to-do list and works his way down. This allows him to keep track of his school projects and complete all his tasks on time.

I asked what it was like for him to be a competitive student-athlete and how does he handle that kind of pressure?

Mederios replied that his love for football kept him motivated to keep improving throughout all his initial challenges. His passion and self-drive allowed him to excel in the sport.

He says the mindset that he has gained through football helped him aim high throughout other areas of his life such as his academics.

After asking what it was like to receive an athletics scholarship, Mederios was shocked and felt honored for receiving his athletic scholarship. He reminisced how it was mind-blowing and he was taken back and happy to see his hard work be recognized and pay off in such a wonderful way.

Getting towards the end of his high school journey, Ethan’s overall experience at West High has been fairly good apart from his junior year. For him, it didn’t feel like an actual high school year since the classes were online. Nevertheless, Ethan was glad to have had an enjoyable overall experience with many high school memories.

After talking about life after high school, Ethan’s main focus after high school is pursuing a business education. He wants to learn from business education. He has committed to Tabor College in Hillsboro Kansas, where him and his father both flew out to view the school. Overall, he expresses his excitement about college and what the future holds.