Feature Article By Kendyl Cardwell
South Lake High School senior, Brettland Coolidge, is determined to make a difference. He has always had the goal of improving and protecting the lives of the people around him, specifically through the pursuit of a career in law enforcement. “I have always had a goal of helping people, and it just felt like the best way to go about it,” he says. With his involvement in activities such as the Clermont Police Explorers and ROTC, and with the help of important people in his life, he has been able to change his life for the better and set himself up for the future he envisions.
ROTC and Clermont Police Explorers mean much more to Coolidge than simply an after-school hobby; they both have played a significant role in his development as a person and in shaping his future. “For a long time, I debated military or not military, and the ROTC is a great opportunity to experience the military field. With the Clermont Police Explorers, I’ve always known I wanted to be a police officer and this organization related closely to that,” he said about first joining the two groups. He is particularly involved with ROTC, which is a student-run organization intended to help members develop important leadership and character skills such as confidence and communication. “Despite being in the ROTC program, I decided in my junior year that military wasn’t where I wanted to go. I still loved the program, in terms of the people in it and what it taught me, so I stayed in it.” The theme of close-knit relationships and invaluable lessons characterizes the meaning of his time in the organization. Coolidge believes that the program as a whole has been the most influential aspect of his life and has shaped him into the person he is today: “The ROTC program pushed me to be more confident and more comfortable with who I am. I really worked hard to get where I wanted, which was a true character builder.” The leadership skills, work ethic, and self-confidence are something he says will define his life after he leaves high school.
Through his consistent dedication, Coolidge was able to achieve an officer position with the ROTC. It came with a large task list: “Essentially, I lead all functions, talk directly with our ROTC instructors, help lead the program through setting goals and idea development. Not only am I trusted to be the spokesperson for our program, but I was able to be in a position where I could actually help the program and make a difference with something I love the most.” During his junior year, these duties, in combination with 5 AP courses, online classes, other leadership positions, and home factors resulted in a tremendous amount of stress and mental setbacks. “It was definitely a hard time, and my confidence was shaken. I didn’t really understand a lot of things that were going on and I was just really shaky.” Fortunately, he had the support of his mother, father, and friends to help him through the difficult time: “They kept me on track, they were there for me when I needed them, and they understood ways to help me.”
Outside of his family and friends, South Lake as a whole and the teachers at the school offered tremendous guidance and support in Coolidge’s life. “I think about South Lake in terms of the teachers I had. They were some of the best teachers I’ve ever had because they pushed me to be better in their classes and to really try. That theme is what embodies South Lake to me. It is a place that gave me the opportunity to really push myself and gave me access to people who would encourage that effort. Because of that, I am not the lazy 8th grader I once was, thinking I don’t even have to try.” This, Coolidge says, has taught him the value of hard work in getting where you want to be and has made South Lake feel like home.
His confidence and focus on achieving his goals appear not only with his law enforcement dream but with academics as well. By way of the hard-working attitude that South Lake taught him, Coolidge has excelled in the classroom. His motivation doesn’t end with his graduation, as he has big academic goals that also align with his mission to help people. “My ultimate goal for college and beyond is to go into a field where I can help people. For college, I decided I want to major in something unrelated to law enforcement, and I decided on psychology. In case I ever can’t be an officer, I can be a therapist,” Coolidge says. Whatever he ends up doing, it will be something that he pursues with the same passion, hard work, and confidence that he has learned throughout his superb high school career.
