I am so thankful to have received one of the 2020 Prepared for Life Character Scholarships provided by the Lutzie 43 Foundation. By far, this scholarship means the most to me because Philip’s legacy left such a large impact on my community, and especially my school.  I cannot thank the Lutzie 43 Foundation enough for giving me the opportunity to represent their foundation and be a part of such a great group of students.

Although I have known about the Lutzenkirchen’s since I was a young kid, it was during my senior year that I learned about this scholarship when I was chosen by coaches at my school to be a part of the Lutzie 43 Leadership ASE.  I remember Coach Brunner encouraging all of us to apply for this scholarship. I questioned if I should even apply for the scholarship because of so many deserving people in the room.  But I gave it a shot because of how impactful one of Mr. Lutzenkirchen’s speeches was on my life and now I’m here writing this blog post!

During one of the ASE meetings, Mr. Lutzenkirchen spoke to us. One of the stories quickly resonated and is now my favorite story of Phillip. He told our class about different occasions when Phillip had gone to spend time with children who had severe illnesses. He also talked about Phillip taking his specials needs a friend to prom. This resonated with me because one of my favorite things about being a student at Lassiter was being able to work closely with students who have special needs. I have been a member of Trojan Buddies since my freshman year, helped with adaptive PE my junior year and I coached Lassiter’s Spirit Squad Team (our special needs cheer squad).

I encourage everyone to read through the 43 Lessons to Legacy curriculum just as my class did. Each lesson provides a trait that made Phillip the person that everyone should aspire to be. We should all try to incorporate these traits into our daily lives.

Thank you to the Lutzenkirchen family for providing me with this opportunity, I couldn’t be more thankful.

Learn more about Julia by watch her video here.