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Washington Evening Journal
111 North Marion Avenue
Washington, IA 52353
319-653-2191
Luke Konczal
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
Age: 17
Parents’ names: Paul and Amanda Konczal
Cumulative GPA and Class Rank: 4.0, 1 out of 104
Activities: Football (Captain, 3-time All-District, 3A state leader in tackles, Academic All-State, Team MVP and Leadership Award), Basketball (Captain, 2-time All-Conference), baseball (All-Conference), FBLA (third place in Business Calculations, National Qualifier), National Honor Society (co-president), Student Council, College Board National Recognition awardee, mentoring at Pence Elementary
Other clubs: Iowa Gators 7-on-7 football, refereeing youth football games
Future plans: Grinnell College to major in mathematics and play football. I plan to become a certified actuary.
How will your high school experiences help you in coming years? Throughout high school, I learned how to persevere through challenges. I was able to overcome adversity and keep on going.
Fondest memory of high school? My calculus class my junior year. It was such a fun and motivated learning environment. We were all so focused and enjoyed the process so much. I learned a ton during this class, and had the time of my life doing it.
Which teachers have had the biggest impact on you and why? Tena Edlin, my Talented and Gifted teacher fifth through tenth grade. She taught me how to push my limits and grow as a person. She advised me to always be hungry for knowledge, and allowed me to flourish into who I am today. Without her, I would not have accomplished what I have.
Who is your role model and how did they influence you? My role model is my grandpa. He is the kindest, most caring person I have ever met. He lives his life to make others’ lives better. I try to go about my life like this, focusing on caring for others. Through this, I find to be more content than when I only care for myself.
What is special about your high school? My high school is special because it welcomes all kinds of people all with different goals. Everyone supports one another and wants to see everyone succeed. Students work together to accomplish greater goals.
If you could go back to when you were a freshman, what advice would you give yourself? I would tell myself to stop trying to fit in, to be myself. I have found that once I stopped chasing the crowd is when I started to succeed. Not everyone has the same priorities as I do, so I do not need to care what they think. I should have stopped worrying what people think of me sooner. Ultimately, all that matters is if I am content with what I am doing.
