With her roots deep in the rural lifestyle, Concordia Junior/Senior High School senior Lili Brooks plans to stay at least adjacent to small-town life even after her plan for a longer-than-most college stay. Lili is the CJSHS Student of the Month for October, and the daughter of Mayra and Josh Brooks.
Lili grew up in Concordia like her father did, where she’s attended USD 333 schools her entire life, which seemed to leave her a little melancholy when thinking of graduation.
“I’m not the person who’s just ready to get out of here,” Brooks said. “I’ve always liked school, I’ve always enjoyed it.”
According to Lili, she dislikes taking any time away from school, and it shows with a 3.9 cumulative grade point average and a roster of extracurricular activities. Speaking of, Lili participates in volleyball, cheer, National Honor Society, Catholic Youth Organization, Friends of Rachel and the high school student council.
Out of this list of activities, Lili said that she enjoys volleyball the most, but feels more impact through her community-focused extracurriculars that encourage her to volunteer.
“I love being around people and I love helping, and I feel like the more that I do, the more I can be out there with people and benefit them,” Lili said. “I think it’s really important to be involved in community and just show your face and be able to help people.”
This love of helping others seems to stem from someone who inspires Lili greatly; her mother. Lili said that growing up, she often witnessed her mother’s work as a nurse practitioner in the halls of the North Central Kansas Medical Center.
Now, today, Lili said she plans to attend Kansas State University to study to become a physician assistant focused on women’s health.
“I shadow at the hospital every day,” Lili said. “I’ve followed my mom around and then I’ll see other PAs and doctors that are there and I’m like, ‘Yeah, this is what I want to do.’”
Initially, though, Lili had different plans for her future.
“I wanted to be an FBI agent,” Lili said through laughter. “As I grew up I knew I was going to be in the health field, but I really did want to be an FBI agent, and specifically in the analysis unit working on criminal and serial killer cases.”
Lili said that as she aged, she found a love for mathematics and helping others while her interest in hypotheticals and mysteries faded. According to her, she enjoys math the most because she thinks logically and likes to find the answers that are in front of her.
Due to her plan to become a PA, she said she still sees herself in college in five years, but plans to live a more small-town life rather than move to a large city after finishing school.
“I’m not super drawn to huge places like Kansas City or Wichita,” Lili said. “Concordia’s hospital is a little too small, we don’t have women’s health, but there are so many clinics in Salina and Manhattan and I feel like I would like to stay in Manhattan.”
That small-town attitude seems to have stuck with her throughout her life, since the advice that she’d give her fifth-grade self echoes that sentiment, plus a little bit of guidance.
“‘Always be kind to everyone, and try to stay organized’ is what I would tell my fifth-grade self,” Lili said. “I feel like you never know what anyone is going through, and it’s so pointless to not be kind. It takes no effort to be nice to people.”
According to Lili, while she struggles with organizing her car or room, she stays organized through her schedule, which will continure to stay busy as she moves on from the realm of high school into college.
Congratulations to Lili Brooks, the Concordia Junior/Senior High School October Student of the Month.
