Advice from Graduates
After the Crown: Kailey Tinker
by Jada Brummels
Five years ago, Kailey Marks stood under the bright stadium lights and was crowned homecoming queen at the most anticipated football game of the year. Now Kailey Tinker, she is married to Brett Tinker and works at Faith Health as an X-Ray technician.
In high school, everything superficial seems to matter. Perfect hair, trendy clothes, and the most popular friends become our lives, but after graduating, we do not know how to be our own people.
“I simply cared too much about what other people thought of me…I put a lot of pressure on myself to be good at everything I did and worried about how I was being perceived,” Tinker says.
While in high school, she participated in numerous activities, including cheerleading, choir, journalism, and FCCLA. She says that all have impacted her life positively in the last five years and that “being involved taught me how to work with different people, communicate, manage my time, be responsible, and step outside my comfort zone.”
When asked about her priorities now, Tinker remarks that “my faith, my husband, and the people I surround myself with make me truly happy.”
Since graduating, she has attended Northeast Community College, where she studied health sciences and was a student ambassador. She says that after graduating, there can be a lot of pressure to know what you want to do.
“I’ve learned that it’s completely okay for your path to change and to realize that the timeline you imagine for yourself at 18 is not always reality,” she says.
In the next five years, she is looking forward to being happy and enjoying whatever life brings. She is especially excited to continue growing with her husband (10 years together), growing their family, and making memories.
Growing Up and Giving Back
By Raleigh Pfeiffer
Homecoming time! Makeup done, hair done, dress on, heels on, check! Five years ago, senior Faith Lubisher went through that very same checklist before walking the track in her navy blue dress as a 2020 homecoming candidate. Lubisher is now 23, engaged, and getting married next summer.
Faith Lubisher graduated from Wayne State College with a bachelor’s degree in biology in 2025. This August, she began her first year of physician assistant school at Union Adventist University, which is a three-year program.
Lubisher's favorite part of high school was competing in sports, and her coaches impacted her most during high school.
“They believed in me and saw my potential even when I didn’t,” Lubisher states.
If she could go back in time, she would have explored more career options in high school and undergrad because she did not truly realize the variety.
At this time in her life, Lubisher is where she envisioned herself at 18. She has always wanted to be in the healthcare field, yet she did not expect to be in physician assistant school.
Lubisher was a very involved student. During high school, she was involved in volleyball, basketball, track, student council, girls letter club, and journalism. In her time at Wayne State College, she competed in division two track for one year. After that, she played club volleyball for three years. Lubisher was also a Neihardt scholar, a member of the honors club, and a member of the physician assistant club and dental club.
Lubisher’s independence changed the most after graduating high school.
“After high school, I became a lot more independent. I could never do anything alone in high school, but as I got farther into college, I really started to enjoy my independence and doing things by myself for myself,” Lubisher states.
Success now means “giving back to the community who raised me and guided me to where I am and who I am today,” compared to Lubisher in high school, who thought that being wealthy and having everything made her successful.
“I would advise students to follow their interests and find a career that really brings them joy. Every person's path to their future looks different!” Lubisher states.
