Student of the Week: Lutheran High North's Stager wants to be on medicine's front lines

By Don Gardner

Parker Stager thinks it's time he started visiting hospitals as an employee rather than a patient. The three-sport varsity athlete at Lutheran High School North has been a regular resident of hospital rooms during his high school career, with torn elbow ligaments, torn ankle ligaments, fractures in both ankles and a variety of sprains. A couple of those visits included trips to the emergency room -- but that's the place where Parker wants to spend his career.

"I’ve been in and out of the doctors with injuries from sports, and sometimes it was frustrating not being able to understand what was wrong," Stager said. "And when my stepdad passed away suddenly, we didn't know he had preexisting heart issues. I'd like to see what I could do the medical field."

Parker Stager is The Macomb Daily Student of the Week.

"I love the idea of being able to help people. And in the emergency room, you can do that most directly," he added. "Working in an ER would keep me on my feet and require me to think quickly and do a variety of things. I have a of things going on in my life already, so I like being on my toes and I can deal with the stress."

Working in the ER is literally on the front lines of not only life and death accidents, but also global pandemics that seem to pop up every 10 years or so, like the coronavirus COVID-19. Stager admits that comes with the job, and he's all too ready to take it on.

"That's always a concern, but it won’t stop me from wanting to help others," he said. "People will have to sacrifice to help others. And Im happy to be there to help others. Someone has to step up and do, and I’m glad to do it.

"A lot stuff has happened before, but never like this. If there is a way to come up with better equipment or come up with more precautions, I’d like to be part of that," he added.

Parker has seen the videos that have surfaced of his peers from around the country participating in spring break activities that seem to completely disregard the concepts of social distancing and other preventative measures that could "flatten the curve" of the spread of COVID-19.

"I think what they're doing, (spring breakers in Florida) it's not intelligent at all," he said. "I've had conversations with friends regarding the seriousness of it. It seems like it wasn't serious 10-14 days ago, but it is now, and if we had taken the proper precautions, we might not be having the problems we're having now."

Stager said among the teens he knows, there is a mix of levels of precaution. He said his close friends are taking it seriously, but others "think they're on top of the world" and aren't taking it seriously.

He plans to attend either Michigan State University or Oakland University and study pre-med. He is the senior class valedictorian at Lutheran High North and carries a 4.3081 grade point average.

He was able to achieve that level of academic success despite playing several sports and participating in several more school clubs.

Stager played four years of varsity soccer, manning the center back position. His team won the regional championships twice and the district championship three times, while he won all-district and all-academic awards.

He played one year of varsity lacrosse during his junior year primarily as a defender and joined the school wrestling team as a senior, despite never having played the sport. He went 4-4 on the mat before an elbow injury brought his season to an end.

"I never did before, but I always wanted to do it," Stager said of his wrestling experience. "It was intimidating at first, but extremely fun. I got pretty serious about it and I also thought it would keep me in shape. It ended up being one of my favorite sports, behind soccer. It's an individual sport, which was different, but it's also a team sport. I knew I had to get the job done to help the team."

Stager was also a member of the school chess club as a sophomore and a senior; and the euchre club and bowling clubs as a junior, when he also played church league basketball for his family church, St. Peter Lutheran Church.

“He is a very hard-working individual. He is attentive and punctual. He loves to figure things out and really gets engrossed in what he is doing. These attributes will serve him well,” adds Nicole Mandziara, teacher and HOSA advisor.

Stager is also a member of Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) and served as a representative on student council as a junior and serves as the group's treasurer as a senior. He serves as student group coordinator for the school's National Honor Society group.

Parker earned scholastic all-academic awards as a senior, was a Scholastic All-Catholic Prep Bowl Knights of Columbus winner as a junior and a senior and earned academic excellence awards all four years.

He has volunteered as a vacation Bible school leader at his church, served as a youth basketball coach and volunteered at Munger Physical Therapy in Clinton Township.

He also helped the Youngblood family started the Youngblood Vineyards in Ray Township. Parker's sister is a friend of the Youngblood family, and he spent 20 hours picking grapes in 2019 to help prepare for the first year of making wine. 

The Macomb Daily Students of the Week are selected in advance by the schools with the approval of the Macomb County Secondary Principals Association in cooperation with The Macomb Daily and the Macomb Intermediate School District.

Article originally posted by The Macomb Daily.