LAKE STEVENS — Peter Condyles, 17, is a senior at Lake Stevens High School. He’s the associated student body president and a history buff who volunteers at the Marysville Historical Society.
Question: What school activities do you do?
Answer: I’ve been in ASB for three years. I was a sophomore class senator, junior class secretary-treasurer and then I was elected as ASB president. They try to boil the job down into a description but you do everything, really. I always say I go to bed tired but really happy and I wake up really happy but really tired. I’m also in the German Club and that’s a lot of fun. It’s my second year in German class. We have a club and we get together and eat a lot of German food and learn about the culture. Also, I’m in the This Day in History Club, which is a new club this year. The purpose is just to get history into the classrooms because that’s kind of an area that’s lacking, we noticed. We’re just getting a little history fact in every day so people know what’s going on.
Q: What are your favorite subjects?
A: History. I love history. That’s my favorite subject overall. This year I’m taking AP Government and Politics. That’s my favorite class right now.
Q: What is it about history that interests you?
A: History is not like any other subject. History is always different. With, like, math you’re just repeating the same thing over and over again. With history, you never hear the same story twice. It’s always something different, and it’s always something that, in my opinion, is really exciting.
Q: Do you have a particular time period or event that fascinates you?
A: I like American history, mostly. I’ve taken a European history class, I did world history. European history is like kings, queens, wars, repeat. Kings, queens, wars, repeat. With U.S. history, it’s always something different. There’s always a new innovation or a new leader. Power changes more quickly, so that leads to different things and it’s just really interesting. If I were to pick my favorite time period, it probably would be the 20th century. I enjoy the World Wars and Cold War period, from World War II on to about the ’70s and the growth of the suburbs. How family life became what it is today is really interesting to me.
Q: So you’re hoping to turn history into a career?
A: Yes. I want to go to college and get a degree in history, then work in a museum, be a curator at a historic place or get into historic preservation. I volunteer at the Marysville Historical Society right now. We’re getting our museum done. I’ve been learning not only about history but about the museum business itself. I really like that activity and all of the people there.
Q: How did you start volunteering in Marysville?
A: I was in fifth grade on the student newspaper, so I interviewed (former) Mayor Dennis Kendall. He turned out to be a huge mentor for me. He invited me to come to City Council meetings. He helped me get involved in different things in the city. Then I found the Marysville Historical Society and that’s kind of been my home ever since. Everyone there is just wonderful.
Q: What do you do for fun?
A: The historical society is my hobby. It’s so much fun. I find when I have time to relax I watch way more TV than I should. I’m a huge fan of “Law and Order: SVU.” I really like going up to see my grandparents in Bellingham. They’re a huge part of my life. I hang out with my friends a lot. All of my friends are so busy, we do our different things, but every Tuesday we get together for trivia at Razzals.
Q: What has been your biggest challenge or obstacle in high school so far?
A: First is math. I am terrible with math. I’ve always done pretty well in most of my classes, but math is hard for me. My brain is much better for history. I can remember names, dates, places, events, but math you have to build on and if you don’t learn this, you can’t learn that. And also just being able to be me, I guess, because as a freshman I wasn’t very assertive. I didn’t have much self confidence. One day I just kind of said no more, no more letting people walk all over me.
Q: What advice would you give to new students?
A: Get involved now. Go to all the games. Get in a club, get in an activity. The last few years, I’ve gone to the games and done those things, but I wasn’t as involved as I could have been. This year I started doing all this stuff. I’ve had so much fun and I’m thinking, “Why didn’t I do this sooner?” My sister’s a sophomore so I’m trying to get her to go to all of this stuff with me. I’m like, “You’ll thank me later. I promise.”
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
