Senior Maxx Richards was putting cold fries into hot sizzling oil and flipping burger patties at McDonald’s when he decided he wanted to invest his time differently. It was time for a change.
“One thing that I wish I would have done differently is spent more time involved in school activities rather than working,” said Richards about work consuming most of his time. He wanted something different for his senior year. “I don’t work there anymore, so I have full range to join everything I want to.”
It’s not unusual for high school seniors to try to make the most of their last year of high school. It’s the final chance at many opportunities. A great example of this mindset is Senior Maxx Richards. Because of scheduling conflicts, Richards was not able to do all the sports and activities he previously wished to do. But this year he had a goal to be as involved in the school as possible.
“After high school, I might never be able to do all these sports and activities again,” said Richards. “So, I might as well try to get as involved as I can.”
His journey began before the school year started by becoming involved in Link Crew which he hadn’t been involved in previous years.
“I guess that I started with Link Crew, because I didn’t do it my junior year,” said Richards. “So I started off the year on a strong note, trying new things.”
And it didn’t stop there. Richards enrolled in choir for the first time. And he loved it. So he joined chorale. And that led to him joining the show choir.
“I can’t say I’m a good dancer, but it’s actually really fun,” said Richards about being in the show choir. “You never know when you might need to dance some day. I think you can pull out skills for everything.”
The Albert Lea show choir is performing “Ignition” by Toby Mac, “Love Runs Out” by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper from the movie “A Star is Born”, and “From Now On” by Hugh Jackman from the movie “The Greatest Showman”. They will be performing at Tiger’s Roar on March 28-29.
The interest in music doesn’t end with singing and dancing. Richards is currently involved in concert band, jazz band, and marching band. He plays trumpet for concert band and clarinet for symphonic band. He is a part of Minnesota Youth Symphonies. He has won All-State Band and the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award.
“I hope to attend the school of music at the University of Minnesota and get a degree in music education to become a music teacher and performer,” said Richards of his future plans.
He is the current band president and is in charge of planning team bonding activities outside of school for his bandmates. Over winter break, Richards arranged a day for the band students to go to open skate together. This took place on Dec 30 at the arena.
“So for everything I do, I try to do it to my full ability and to the best I can,” said Richards. “Eventually you get involved in so many things so you have to pick and choose.”
Richards’s philosophy is that sometimes you have to make a conscious decision of where your time and energy serves you best. Richard believes one of those organizations is National Honor Society and working volunteer hours.
“Where do I feel the most compelled to go right now?” said Richards. “If I’m not feeling fully committed to something, then I don’t see a reason to keep doing it when I could be doing something else that would benefit me more.”
In previous years, Richards was involved in robotics. Although he loved it, it was time consuming because of the long season and limited his ability to other things. He gave up robotics for his year of trying new things.
“My friends and family inspire me the most because I always try to be the best version of myself for them,” said Richards. “Great people are easy to want to do great things for.”
Including his friend, Senior Gunnar Hardison, has tried to get Richards to join the swim team for two years. This year he succeeded. Richards says the team has been welcoming to the first-time senior. In the first two weeks, his teammates taught him everything he needed to know so he could be ready for the first meet.
“My first meet was really fun,” said Richards. “Just to say that I’ve done that and swam competitively.”
Richards has learned a lot from his experiences throughout high school. Some of his advice to younger students is to be involved and to take advantage of school, because high school impacts you as a person.
“High school is a very special time in our lives,” said Richards. “It’s really short, and it’s where you grow a lot as a person. And I think that the growth you have during high school is going to be a lot more exponential if you’re involved in different activities that will help shape you as a person and challenge you.”