VHHS seniors pursuing unique paths

While many graduating seniors from Vestavia Hills High School will make their way to nearby four-year universities this fall, other students’ educational opportunities will take them to foreign countries, unconventional jobs or the United States military, offering them a chance to represent their community in a variety of ways.

CATHERINE MITCHELL

While Catherine Mitchell’s mother is from Beijing, and Catherine herself has been to China nine times, one city she hasn’t visited is Shanghai. That will soon change as the new VHHS graduate prepares to abroad at New York University’s Shanghai campus.

“They have everything I’m looking for,” Mitchell said.

From the extracurriculars to the ability to study either international business or international law, the university is a perfect fit for Mitchell, who will leave in July. Mitchell will have to buy most of her living necessities and other personal items in China, and will miss the holidays.

“[My parents] are really excited for me, but obviously they’re really sad about it, too,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell’s college experience will be the first time she’s seen Shanghai.

The campus opened in 2012 and is still relatively small, Mitchell said. She’s undecided on her major but wants to focus on international work and will also try finance and humanities classes.

Mitchell will spend her first two years at the Shanghai campus, then come home for her junior year before heading back to Shanghai for her last year. While Vestavia has given her a good foundation, she said she still has a lot to learn and is looking forward to the experiences and knowledge she’ll gain while overseas.

While at Vestavia, Mitchell said her close friends have helped each other during difficult times, pushing each other to work hard and improve. Vestavia’s renowned education system has also helped prepare Mitchell for her journey, as she’s been given opportunities to study difficult and unique courses, she said.

Mitchell is also planning on taking two of her favorite hobbies — fencing and piano — with her overseas. Mitchell has been playing piano for 13 years and has won several awards, including top state honors awarded by the Alabama Music Teacher’s Association.

“Piano is … the number one thing in my life that I have a passion for,” Mitchell said. “... I would consider myself more of an artistic person, more able to empathize with others and express my emotions.”

The Shanghai campus has a piano lab on campus, and Mitchell said she hopes to join. 

In addition to the piano lab, she also hopes to join the campus’ fencing team. Mitchell was 7 years old when she first heard about the sport, and she played off and on for about three years before sticking with it full time. For the last three years, she’s taken part in the sport’s summer national tournament.

“It’s such an exhilarating sport,” Mitchell said. “... It’s kind of like a mind game in a way, too, because you have to think about all these strategies ahead of time. … The sport in itself, you can play around with it.”

As she’s gotten older, Mitchell said she’s learned to enjoy the sport more.

Looking ahead to her college years overseas, Mitchell said she hopes to travel around other parts of Asia, as well. 

FERGUSON SMITH

Ferguson Smith has been riding horses since he was six years old and is now preparing to spend the next few years at a dude ranch.

Smith, 18, is headed to the ranch, located in Del Rio, Tennessee, to spend two to three years helping out with ranch duties and entertaining guests.

Smith said his goal was always to work on a ranch and around Christmas 2018, he realized he needed to make a decision as to where he would go.

Smith said he applied to 40 ranches, but the first ranch was in Del Rio, five hours from Vestavia Hills. After about a 30-minute interview, he got the job.

“I’m so excited,” Smith said. “I’m not nervous. I could do that stuff in my sleep.”

At the ranch, Smith will teach people how to ride horses, go on trail rides and cattle drives, guide rafting trips and help with ranch maintenance, such as fixing fences and helping with the medical care of cattle.

“I’ve been throwing rope since I was 7,” Smith said.

No one in Smith’s family takes part in rodeos, but his mother took him to a rodeo when he was young, and he met an old rancher. The rancher struck up a friendship with the family and helped Smith learn to ride a few years later.

“[I like] the culture,” Smith said. “They wake up early and work long, hard jobs. [It’s] some of the most fulfilling work I’ve ever done.”

Being a rancher, Smith said, is a “breed.”

“You’re born with a passion to do it,” Smith said.

Smith rides in Chelsea, and he’s made several friends through his work. During his time at Vestavia Hills High School, Smith has been a part of the football team, playing wide receiver, as well as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and other groups.

While his love for ranches isn’t common at Vestavia, Smith said the teachers at Vestavia are “fantastic.”

After he spends a few years on the ranch, Smith said he hopes to move out West and begin his own ranch. 

LIBBY JACKSON

When she was in sixth grade, Libby Jackson’s dad bought her a book on the U.S. Air Force, sparking an interest in U.S. service academies that changed Jackson’s life.

“I started going to Academy Nights, where they have all the different academies come and talk to you,” Jackson said.

Jackson, 17, applied for and received admission to the Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard, choosing to attend the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, after graduating from VHHS last month.

“It’s a lot smaller and a lot more elite,” Jackson said of the academy.

Jackson admitted she gets bored easily, prompting her to seek a job that allows her to move frequently and perform many different tasks.

“If you’re an officer, every two to three years, you get moved to a new station, and you could be doing something completely different,” Jackson said. “... You’re on a boat, and you have to do a million different things. If they call in and say a boat is in trouble, you have to go save that boat. If you find out that there are drug runners in that area, you have to go intercept the drugs.”

Jackson said at first she wanted to go into the Army, but after having hip surgery, she was medically denied from West Point earlier this year.

“At first, I was really sad, but then I [thought], ‘I think I really didn’t want to go Army,’” Jackson said. “... I went and visited [the Coast Guard] … and I just remember coming back and thinking, ‘Wow, I didn’t realize the Coast Guard was that cool.’”

On July 1, Jackson will travel to basic training. She’ll have two minutes to say goodbye to her parents before boarding a bus to the barracks.

“I’ll step out [off] the bus, and immediately they’re yelling in your face,” Jackson said. “From that point, until the end of the summer, you’re at attention.”

While Jackson admitted to being somewhat nervous of basic training, she said it’s all about your attitude once you arrive.

“I know that I’m going to get through it,” Jackson said. “It’s just one of those things that in the moment, it’s really hard and it’s scary.”

The Coast Guard’s four-year academic program is much, much tougher than the average undergraduate program, Jackson said. However, after attending Vestavia, renowned for its academics, Jackson said she’s not concerned.

“I’m not scared at all about the academics,” Jackson said. “I feel like I’m going to go in and I’m going to be ahead of my classmates that are coming in from all over the country because of the [Advanced Placement] courses.

“My teachers have been the best, probably in the country, comparable to any other state, I would say,” Jackson said. “When it comes to my civic knowledge, my math and science, I feel like I have such a great foundation.”

Jackson took all AP classes during her senior year, but, unlike other schools, the Coast Guard does not allow students to exempt out of classes. Instead, she’ll be placed into a higher-level class meant to challenge her. If the academy feels she isn’t being challenged, they’ll continue to push her to teach her how to handle the stress that will inevitably come with being a member of the Coast Guard, she said.

While at Vestavia, Jackson was part of the volleyball team, although injuries kept her from playing her senior year. Desiring to be part of a team, she joined the We the People civics team, which won the state championship this year, along with the Southeast Region award.

“I really love politics, I really love government,” Jackson said. “Obviously I love my country. It’s made me want to pursue that through my education, and I might go back to graduate school [for] something government related.”

One possible goal for Jackson, she said, is working as a “Coast Guard in a Box,” where she would work in an embassy in a foreign nation and help build up their navies, which, in some countries, perform the tasks given to the U.S. Coast Guard, such as search and rescue. Jackson said she’s also considering working in Washington D.C. when she leaves the Coast Guard.

When she arrives in Connecticut, she said she hopes to join either the offshore sailing team or a crew team.

Before she joins her fellow freshmen at the academy, Jackson will take a senior trip to Disney World and spend time saying goodbye to her friends. Before the move to Connecticut, her family will move to North Carolina and build a home, she said.

With just a month before basic training, Jackson said she’s focused on preparing to pursue the dream that first started in middle school.

“I don’t think anybody’s completely ready,” Jackson said. “Right now, I’m just focused on what I can control, which is my attitude and physical preparation.”