Mac Hird on giving back
By
Barbara Woolsey (HS’07)
For
Mac Hird (HS’07)
, Luther College High School provided more than just a diploma — it wasthe launching pad of Hird’s quest to achieve success through experimentation.“I’ll never forget my time there and I won’t forget the friends that I made, but the part I’m reallygrateful for is the firm grounding that I got at Luther,” explains the 21-year-old. “It’s hard todescribe, but the passion that was instilled in me ... by the time I got out of Luther I wanted to doall these new different things. That means a lot because that’s definitely carried over intouniversity and it’s going to carry me through life.”Hird graduated from the high school as a distinguished alumnus, having completed theInternational Baccalaureate program and been involved in many extracurricular activities suchas football and kayaking. He is now in his fourth year of studies at the University of Texas atDallas, pursuing his Bachelor of Science in physics with a minor in political science on a fullscholarship.During the school year, he is active in student government and works for the university’sopinions newspaper,
A Modest Proposal.
Hird’s diverse interests have brought him a wealth of life experiences. In mid-2010, he studiedGerman for one semester in Freiburg, Germany. Hird has also resolved to travel to variousWorld War II memorials across Europe over the summer of 2010, visiting the graves of everyfallen soldier from Regina — a means of fulfilling his love of both history and travel.“I have a firm belief that the reason you like a subject is because you’ve had good teachers,” hesays. “I ended up with great teachers, people like my high school physics teacher, Mr Becker.He’s the reason I got interested in physics, he definitely put that spark there. Each teacher contributed in their own way to each subject. It was difficult because for a long time I didn’t knowwhat I wanted to do, but it’s a good difficult.”Luther has given Hird so much — and he is eager to return the many favours. However,“there’s more than one way to give back,” he notes.“The way that many people give back is they try to give money,” he explains. “Right now, that’snot where I am in my career. I think the best thing I can do at this age is represent the schoolreally well by going out and doing awesome things.”One example of the awesome things Mac is doing is his trip to Europe over the summer of 2010, when he visited World War Two memorials across Europe.
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