Area teens learn staying positive carries rewards

MINSTER - Being positive isn't always easy, but it can have its rewards as three teenagers recently learned.

The year 2020 has been very different from what many people had expected or hoped for, and everyone's life has been affected in different ways. For recent graduates, the COVID-19 pandemic meant the loss of face-to-face interaction with peers and mentors in the last days of school and missing out on milestones such as prom and traditional graduation ceremonies.

In the face of so much change and turbulence, Minster-based construction company H.A. Dorsten wanted to encourage people to look on the bright side of life. Graduating seniors from Minster, New Bremen and Arcanum high schools - all in school districts where the company had completed construction projects in the last two years - were asked to submit videos between 30 and 60 seconds long describing how they'd shown resilience in recent times.

The result was "pretty rewarding to see," said Joe Carte, a project manager and estimator at H.A. Dorsten. A panel of 10 people from the company reviewed the videos and picked one senior from each school to receive a custom binder for their future endeavors and $400 - in the form of 20 $20 bills.

The company decided the videos would remain private to protect the participants, some of whom discussed very personal matters, Carte said. However, the winners briefly described some of what they discussed.

Sydney Paul, the winner from New Bremen High School, talked about her recent stay in an intensive-care unit due to diabetic ketoacidosis, and how the coronavirus era taught her the resilience she would need when dealing with her diagnosis. She plans to attend Wright State University-Lake Campus to major in accounting and will use the prize money to help pay for books.

Justin Mox, the winner from Minster High School, said the message of his video was people could not live in fear.

"When we are scared of things we set limits on ourselves, we cannot reach our full potential," he said. "I've learned through this whole pandemic that we all (have) things we need to work on to better ourselves. I hope as a country we can come together as one, after these hard times."

Mox plans to attend Ohio University in the fall, and will use the money to purchase a new laptop for college.

Macy Skelton, the winner from Arcanum High School, spoke about how she had tried to keep a positive state of mind not just during the pandemic but over the past year as a whole. Skelton lost her mother, Kimra, in a car accident on I-75 in November. Then the pandemic came along, crushing the remainder of her senior year.

Even so, she continues to move forward. Her mother had been a motor carrier enforcement inspector with the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Skelton plans to attend Bowling Green State University to major in criminal justice and forensic sciences. The award money will go toward her college expenses.