BY DANIEL SIMONS

Around June of every year, parents, siblings, grandparents, and 2nd cousins, file into the bleachers of Kusel Stadium to commemorate the graduating class as they depart high school. Students are normally going to college within a 200-mile radius. In the case of Stuart Simons, he is going halfway across the world.

Simons graduated from Mariemont in 2009. He a member Band for four years and drum major for the last two years, and was a varsity baseball pitcher all four years during his stint at the high school. When he was a junior, he helped lead his team to a CHL championship in 2008. Simons took his baseball talents to the next level. Simons played baseball at the College of Mount St. Joseph. He received a scholarship, but left after one year.

“No…I didn’t think my arm would last that long,” Simons said when he was asked if he could extend his baseball career.

  After a year of college, Simons decided that it was time that he move on to bigger things that would help him take his future to what he wanted to do. He turned away a scholarship to play baseball and instead joined the United States Navy. It was a tough decision for him to make.

“I made the decision because I didn’t exactly feel like I had anything that was waiting for me in college. I was a chemistry major only for self-assurance, hoping I could potentially score a well-paid job one day, but with that kind of uncertainty, I decided to take my life into my own hands.”

Simons is calling the $4.5 billion ship known as the USS Harry S. Truman Aircraft Carrier his home for the next 9 months.

“The ship is about 1 ½ football fields long. There is a Starbucks, basketball hoops, mediocre internet, and on Sundays, they give us steak and crab legs.”

 The ship that Simons has been staying on has been to some places he is not allowed to reveal. If I did, I probably wouldn’t be writing this article. He was able to tell me about his first destination.

 “All I can tell you is that we have been to Marseilles, France and it was incredible. My buddies and I swam at a beach that was like a screensaver. I will never forget it.”

Something else Simons will never forget is the teachers of MHS and the respect he had for them, but none more so than Mr. Wolfford. “If he is happy, then it’s the right decision. It’s a good way to see the world,” said Wolfford on his former Government student’s decision to join the Navy.

Dr. Renner, stated, “It’s great. I’m proud of him. In the military, he is the man and the expertise will serve him will. Nothing matures you more than the Navy. He is doing something meaningful.”

  Simons realized he missed his teachers very much, but that’s not the only thing he misses about this school and community.

  “After having been to many new cities since joining, I have realized that Cincinnati has a sense of self-pride and interest in the local culture that is unparalleled. That’s what I miss the most, is the excitement of an event such as Opening Day or Taste of Cincinnati. (At Mariemont) I definitely miss the wide variety of stuff like all the sports games, musicals, and the Holiday Festival.”

 Though Simons enjoys little aspects of the ship and the exotic, James Bond-esque locales, he does see one final flaw in the constant aquatic travel.

 “The worst part is being away from my family, girlfriend, car, and Arby’s.”