Andrew MacQuilkan

The Red Ledger: Is it crazy to think that it’s been 10 years since to school opened and you were a freshman?

Andrew MacQuilkan: Well, to be honest with you, I actually started going to Lovejoy when I was in tenth grade. I can’t say I was there 10 years ago, but I will say it is crazy to think that. It’s been a long time.

TRL: What have you been up to since you graduated?

AM: I went to the University of Arkansas. December 2014 is when I graduated, so I was there for four and a half years. Then I worked for an auto bike shop doing their customer service and sales for a few months, and then in May I started working where I am now at a staffing agency for doctors. I’m a recruiter.

TRL: What was the most important thing you learned in high school?

AM: My dad always told me- it’s basically the only piece of advice that I went to in college, when I was going into college- Psalm 1:1: don’t hang out with punks. Psalm 1:1 basically says blessed [is the] man who does not stand in the way of sinners who does not sit in the seat of scoffers or scorners, and basically saying don’t hang out with people who will influence you in a bad way. I say that I learned that just because I was affected by a lot of different people and in learning how people influenced me I [had] to get better influences and a better foundation so that I wasn’t influenced in a poor way. And so [I found] a core group of guys that would help me out and push me toward what’s actually good for me and push me to a better relationship with my God. That was kind of what I learned and that was probably what influenced me most in high school.

TRL: What is your advice to students when it comes to peer pressure?

AM: I like to tell people there are so many influences in this world, and there are so many different things that people will tell you and maybe pressure you into, but, test it. Test it with truth. Figure out if what they’re saying is right or wrong or good or bad. The thing is is that we do have to allow ourselves to be vulnerable with people, but at the same time we also have to dig deep and see what is actually right. Test it with truth and test it with a faith, I guess, basis just because I am a Christian [and] I base everything off God’s word, the Bible.

TRL: Did you have a favorite class?

AM: It’s funny that it’s physics because no one says physics is their favorite class but I would say physics just because of the teacher that we had, Dr. Bruton, or Mr. Bruton. I don’t know if it was Mr. or Dr. Bruton, I can’t remember. A lot of my friends were in that class with me and with him. It was our favorite class, for sure.