Ryan Whorton

In all four years of high school, senior Ryan Whorton was a member of the swim team and the water polo team. Whorton looked up to the seniors of water polo each year. Especially last year, Whorton felt the seniors did a good job of eliminating the stigma between grade level and status in sports.

“Each group just got better with the legacy that they left, so being able to model myself and model a class after them has just been really cool,” Whorton said. “They did a really good job of making everyone feel like we’re one community and we’re one high school. It’s not freshman, sophomore, junior senior. It’s Parkway West High. They did a really good job of that.”

Whorton regrets not caring about school work as a freshman. Although he made a point to stick with friends who were good influences, Whorton still disregarded grades as less important.

“[I would tell my freshman self to] take your grades seriously, because they matter when you get to senior year and you’re applying to college. They matter, so take them seriously from the beginning so that you’re not having to make up the slack,” Whorton said.