Hard work leads to big rewards for student

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), May 6, 2005 | by TRUDY THOMAS THE GAZETTE

COMING DAILY IN METRO: This is one in a series of stories about members of The Gazette's Best and Brightest Class of 2005.

Chris Fitzwater wants to change the world, and there's really no stopping him.

The Woodland Park High School senior figures there's nothing a little hard work can't solve.

That philosophy served him well when he discovered rebar embedded in concrete while renovating a building for his Eagle Scout project, and when facing judges at speech tournaments.

"It's the hard work and the determination that make a difference," Fitzwater said. "If what you originally wanted to do doesn't work out, take what you've learned and put it to something else."

Fitzwater's desire to make a difference led him to a position as a congressional page. During his junior year of high school, he lived in Washington, D.C.

There, he said, his understanding of the freedom he has as an American was affected by the many war memorials he visited.

He plans to study business at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, while enrolled in the Air Force ROTC program. Then he plans to move on to law school and an eventual career in politics that he hopes will take him places, maybe even to the White House.

"If I could have my way, I would be a politician and I would enact legislation and policy across the nation, across the world that would impact people positively," Fitzwater said. "There are so many people who need freedom, freedom to choose, to have a religion."

CHRIS FITZWATER

Woodland Park High School

Parents: Roy and Margaret Fitzwater

What's next: Baylor University, majoring in business and enrolled in Air Force ROTC program

If you had to lose all your material possessions except one, what would you choose to keep and why?

"I'd probably choose to keep a Bible. It's insightful, and it's part of my firm foundation of faith. It's at the core, and it's a good moral guide." Other stuff: Student Congress; U.S. House of Representatives page; debate team; Boy Scouts; Church youth group leadership team; Student Council; National Honor Society; Key Club; National Senior Beta Club service projects; soccer team; band drum major and trumpet player.