2014 Tyrone High School graduate Seth Umholtz is currently attending Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia as a freshman majoring in pre-med. Umholtz is planning to go to dental school following his undergraduate studies.

Because of his academic success at Tyrone, Umholtz had a pick of colleges but chose Liberty University for several reasons.

“I chose Liberty because it was a place I thought that would be a good place for me to go to grow my relationship with Christ. Not to mention they have a crazy good pre-med program here and the school just keeps growing. All of their equipment is top of the line and it is a great place in general. Plus, you can’t beat the people here. They are awesome,” Umholtz said.

“Also, it is in Virginia, so its south. It is always 20 degrees warmer in Virginia and gas is 30 cents cheaper,” joked Umholtz.

During his time at Tyrone High School, Umholtz was a four year starter for the Golden Eagle football team.  He also participated in track, speech team, Pops Extension, National Honor Society, and was a student representative on the school board for two years.

Umholtz graduated third in his class with a 98% grade point average.  Umholtz also had the privilege of giving the welcome and benediction speech during his graduation.

Because of his academic success, Umholtz was able to take college classes online through Liberty University during his senior year. These classes consisted of Old Testament, Evangelism, and Psych 101. He also took advanced classes at Tyrone such as Chemistry 2.

As a result, Umholz was able to begin college a semester ahead when he arrived there in the fall of 2014.

When it comes to the best thing about Tyrone, for Umholtz the answer to that question is a no brainer: it was the teachers.

“The teachers were just really cool, especially Mr. Funicelli, Mrs. Harris and some of the other ones.  I just had so many great teachers along the way that actually cared about me and really made me learn a lot,” Umholtz raved. “Mr. Merryman and Mr. Rutter, I mean, every single one even Mr. Feather with like Channel T and multimedia that I took with him. Like all of them, from the most minute class to the most important. They were just all great.”

He said that the teachers were willing to sit down and talk to you about almost anything.

“If you thought it was important or thought it was something that needed to be talked about, they were more than willing to sit down and talk to you, and give you some of their wisdom,” said Umholtz.

Umholtz also said that some of the most valuable things he learned in high school came through football. Things like discipline, perseverance, caring about others, and being willing to put them before yourself.

“The most memorable part of high school for me was just getting really close with all the senior captains of the football team and other seniors on the football team. That was probably my favorite part,” Umholtz said.

According to Umholtz, the biggest difference between high school and college is the daily structure.

“The biggest difference is that in high school you have a structured schedule. Like I had to be there at 8:00 in the morning and had to stay until 3:15. That is probably, honestly, it.”

“I chose dentistry because it fit everything I was looking for in a profession. I wanted to help people and I was interested in the medical field. I have always been pretty good at science and stuff like that,” Umholtz said.  “I didn’t want to be a physician because I didn’t want to have some of the malpractice and some of the things like that. Dentistry is a lot more laid back plus, you get to work with your hands a lot more. Like a regular doctor, a lot of the time you are prescribing medicines, whereas in dentistry, it’s about getting in and solving problems and fixing things with your actual hands.”

Umholtz had some advice for seniors and freshman alike.

“Seniors, man just enjoy it, because before you know it, it’s over. Right now you’re thinking like, ‘I just can’t wait to get out of here. I just can’t wait to get to college’ and college is awesome. This is one of the greatest times of my life. I love it here. It’s so much fun but there is a part of high school you will never get again. Or aspects of high school you will never get again,” Umholtz said.

He also added, “You’re never going to be together with all of the people you grown up with since you have been in preschool and kindergarten. Most likely, you will never be able to be around all of them again. Even if you have the worst case of senioritis, try to fight it off, and try to enjoy it, because you are going to spend the rest of your life not in high school.”

He also had something to say to the freshman.

“Freshman, first of all, walk on the right side of the hall. Secondly, don’t try too hard to fit in with people. Something that you learn when you get to college is that it’s not that important. Be yourself, don’t sell yourself short by trying to fit in with people because then you kind of lose some of your own personal identity that is really important to keep. Lastly, try really hard in class because it will come to bite you if you don’t.”