Different dreams

For local students getting ready to graduate Saturday, June 4, the world might be their oyster, but they don't have to eat it the same way.

The Out-of-Door Academy will graduate 44 seniors and Braden River will graduate 387 on Saturday. From college to the workforce, the military to vocational school, they’ve all got many options.

How do they get there, and how do they move forward into the future? They have decidedly different opinions.

Miller Condrack, an ODA student, advises underclassmen to figure out what they want to do with their lives sooner rather than later. Having a clear picture, even if it might be broad, helped her pick the right classes and make the right connections, she said. But, her classmate Sierra Dickerson, said the opposite: “Relax,” was her advice, don’t get too caught up in the right school or the right classes or the right friends, because you’ll end up where you want to be.

These four seniors from local high schools have no doubts about what they want, however. Their journeys might take them across the country or keep them close to home, but they’re all excited to expand their experiences.

Carly McCarthy

Age: 18
Current hobby: JROTC at Braden River High

Future: University of North Florida and U.S. Army

Advice for underclassmen: "Don't let anyone decide what your path is going to be. Make your own decisions and do what makes you happy."

With a stepfather who spent 21 years in the U.S. Navy, Carly McCarthy is used to following orders.

But rather than make her rebel, her military-esque upbringing only encouraged her to follow in his footsteps. She’s been a JROTC member at Braden River High School all four years, participating in the Raiders and drill teams.

Her stepfather, Graham Ellis, is a native of England but wanted to join the U.S. military. He’s passionate about his path, and McCarthy said their home is filled with Americana.

“His stories, his experiences made me really excited,” she said. “The patriotism he had made me interested.”

She’ll go to boot camp this summer and go the Army Reserves while she studies nursing at University of North Florida. Her plan is to become a combat medic.

“It’s awesome because they’ll pay for some of the tuition,” she said.

During college McCarthy will be in the United States and will have to attend training once a month on the weekend. But after, she’ll be shipped out. She wants to be in the field.

“My stepdad is really proud of me,” she said. “But my mom (Diane) is really nervous. I’m an only child.”

Miller Condrack

Age: 18

Current hobbies: Soccer, lacrosse and sailing competitor at ODA

Future: State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College

Advice to underclassmen: “I wish someone would have told me as a freshman to have an idea of what I wanted to do. The four years go by fast. Have a clear idea what direction to go in and you’ll have a better foundation.”

Condrack’s favorite thing about sailing is the sense of independence she feels when she is out on the water, responsible for her own vessel.

The ODA senior took a summer sailing camp in Venice the summer before she went to high school. She’s sailed on through high school as a member of the Venice Youth Boating Association all four years.

She will be trading her independence to gain her degree in marine transportation as a regimented student at the SUNY Maritime College. When she graduates, she’ll be an officer, have a bachelor’s of science degree and will obtain a U.S. Coast Guard license to captain a vessel.

“I like adventure, and it will be cool to travel,” she said.

Joining the maritime school comes in two forms, civilian and regiment. As a regiment student, she’ll be a cadet. She’ll wear a uniform, report to formation daily, and hospital-corner her bed every day. She’s not allowed to decorate her room and can’t have a TV until she’s a senior.

Oh, and she has to run everywhere on campus while she’s a freshman.

“It’s a definite change to my routine,” she said. “It will definitely be a wake-up call to the leisure I have now. But it will be good to have a structure.”

She’ll be competing in both lacrosse and sailing while at school. She currently sails 420 boats, which require two people to sail, and hopes to grow into larger vessels in school. Her sports and limited off-days as specified to a cadet will keep her on campus most of the week, but she’s excited to be living so close to New York City.

“My dad is happy, my mom is having a very ‘mom’ reaction,” she said.

Sierra Dickerson

Age: 18

Current hobby: Student Council President at ODA

Future: Med student at Boston College

Advice to underclassmen: “Don’t stress out too much. Even if you don’t get into your ‘dream’ school, it’s not the end of the world.”

Although Sierra Dickerson has played sports for ODA, her passion is figuring out how things work.

She loved her honors biology class her freshman year, and it prompted her to aspire to be a doctor.

“It’s really interesting how everything works,” she said. “So many things have to go right for your body to work.”

ODA seniors are required to take internships in the spring. A friend’s father, Robert Eckart, is an electrophysiologist at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. With the personal connection, Dickerson shadowed Eckart and got an inside look at the medical profession.

She’s not sure what kind of doctor she wants to be yet, maybe a pediatrician because she loves kids. Whatever her specialization, though, she wants to make sure she actually gets to interact with her patients.

Dickerson picked Boston College because she’s always wanted to live in the Northeast. She was born in Arizona and moved to Florida in second grade. She doesn’t know anyone in Boston, which makes her a little nervous, but a lot of her classmates are moving to the same area of the country.

“I’ll have a support network,” she said.

She is leaving behind her brother, Dakota, who is a junior at ODA, and her mother, Karen. Her brother is excited to be moving into her room, which is bigger, but her mom is getting nervous for her to leave.

“We did a college visit and she freaked out,” she said. “But I’m really excited to meet new people.”
 

Erick Heidt
Age: 19

Current hobby: SkillsUSA state champion, Braden River High and Manatee Technical College
Future: Carpentry
Advice to underclassmen: “Don’t procrastinate. I’ve done that too many times.”

Erick Heidt likes to make things, and he likes to win.

The Braden River High senior was dually enrolled in the building construction program at Manatee Technical College this year, and is rising through the ranks of the SkillsUSA competition, a competition geared toward vocational students and their skill sets learned in technical programs. He is headed to nationals in Louisville, Ken., June 19.

Heidt is inspired to work with his hands because his grandfather built two houses in his lifetime, and because he can make money in construction. Learning how to build taught him a lot of patience.

“Everything takes longer than you’d expect, all the details and measurements,” he said.

Working with wood challenges him physically and mentally, and he enjoys learning how to make something new rather than watching someone tell him how. As he perfects his designs and practices, projects get easier. His winning piece at SkillsUSA is a cutting board made of different wood pressed together.

“The first was impossible, but as I make more and more often, I don’t even have to measure,” he said.

After graduating at Braden River High, Heidt will continue at MTC in the fall to finish his program there and gain his career certification in construction. After, he’s planning to work with his father, Greg, and save up money for a car before he enters the workforce on his own.

He doesn’t want to hire onto a bigger construction company; he’d rather stick with something woodwork related, like a cabinet shop.