Formula for Success

Michael Lanier was excited when he found out he was named the West Of’s Student of the Month. According to West Ashley High School senior, he was most likely chosen because when he participates in class he always tries to always provide “correct and sophisticated” answers. Spanish teacher Jennifer Shields agrees. “Michael is an outstanding student who goes above and beyond expectations,” she says. “The pride he takes in his work is unmistakable.”
Possibly part of the reason Lanier is able to contribute such quality responses in class is because he likes knowing what’s going on in the world today. Although he is not a big fan of music, he enjoys listening to Nation Public Radio (NPR). “It’s pretty unbiased news, and I like being informed,” he says. He also enjoys following politics. “I find it interesting to know what’s going on in the world and how things influence other things,” he says. This year will be the first election in which Lanier will be able to cast a vote and he’s really excited. He even started keeping up with the political race to ensure he chooses the best candidate.
Something else that sets Lanier apart from his peers is his appreciation for high school. “I like being able to make mistakes. I feel like you can make mistakes in high school that you normally can’t make in the real world,” he says. His favorite subject in school is math. He claims that the subject best matches his personality. “You impute numbers into formulas and get an expected outcome. It’s not like that in other classes,” he says. Lanier also finds it easy to memorize formulas, number sequences, points, and equations. This is probably the reason why he enjoyed his Dual Credit math class so much.
Lanier is very self-motivated and self-inspired. “He never misses an opportunity to push beyond what is assigned to create extraordinary work,” says Shields. When asked who has influenced him the most, Lanier replied, “This is going to be cheesy, but my future self. I hope to be better in the future than what I am now,” he said. In the next ten years, Lanier plans to have a college degree, a good job, and a family for which he can provide. He’s been doing what he can in high school to ensure that he achieves these goals in the future.
So far, Lanier considers his biggest high school achievement to be his Networking Certification. This certification could help him get a job right out of high school, but he is looking forward to attending the College of Charleston to earn his Bachelor’s degree before he starts working full-time. He likes the College of Charleston because it’s close to home. Lanier plans to major in statistics in order to become an actuary (a business professional who analyzes the probability of certain outcomes, especially the financial consequences of risk). Lanier is looking into this career path because he finds it interesting and it correlates with his love of math.