This Article was completed for graduate Devin Stevenson.

YMLA has been open for 10 wonderful years, and after all this time its important to highlight those amongst us who have been here from the start. This article focuses on a dream team member often viewed as an achievement to take: Mr William Parker! Since he’s been here he has done nothing but work hard (maybe a little too hard on the homework) both on the academics side and the extracurricular side and be a positive member of our community. When I asked him what his proudest achievements were here, he said it was when alumni come back and tell him about their successes, which if you ask me is a sign of a pretty stand up guy. However, it’s easy to forget that the staff at YMLA are actually people (mind blown :0), and when you ask Mr. Parker about himself he’s a very interesting man.

Mr Parker has only ever taught here at the academy, before that he worked in business and investments, where he was very successful. So successful in fact, that he was left purposeless. Since he had achieved everything he had wanted to do, there was nothing left for him in investments. He had a family, money, happiness, but no more goals, so he turned to God for what the next step was, and he found himself going into education to give back.

Of course, he has other responsibilities outside of school. Mr Parker is actually a landowner, owning a farm and 23 animals. His wife loves animals, and he likes land, so they make it work. On the athletic side he likes running, as well as playing golf and disc golf (I had no idea what that was, it’s like golf but you play it with a frisbee). Gaming wise he prefers them old school, like chess. Maybe before he goes we can see Jaciel and Mr Parker face off!

I asked Mr Parker about some of his life tips and he said take life seriously, but don’t take it too seriously, which I think is something all of us should take into consideration. We as students are here to learn, not just academically but also life-wise. With that, its a safe space to make (some) mistakes and learn from them. I say some because Mr Parker also believes that being strong academically and staying in school makes the path to success is both easier and wider, giving you more opportunities and freedom. While we were talking about these mindsets to live by the topic of his positive demeanor came up and he said hes always positive because there just isn’t enough time to be negative. Negativity takes as much energy as positivity but it gives you way less in return. Students like talking to Mr. Parker, and are more willing to ask for help because he’s inviting.

So, if there’s anything to take away from this read, its this quote Mr Parker gave when trying to explain how he’s gotten this far:

“Life is gonna educate you, and its gonna give you some very trying situations, and how you approach those, meaning your attitude towards those situations, creates the outcome.”