Alumni Focus - Parker Lewis ('21)

Parker Lewis (‘21) came to SCLA in 7th grade as an apprehensive middle school student in need of a change. Although he “cried his eyes out” when he came to shadow, he left laughing and joyful after immediately connecting with new friends. Now graduated, he is preparing for his future as a Christian teacher. His testimony is one of God’s unwavering grace, love, and provision, and a must-read.

Tell us a little about how you decided to come to St. Croix. What were your initial thoughts?

My mom had found a new boyfriend and things were going well with their relationship and so we decided to move in with him. This meant that we had to move from Blaine to West St. Paul. This also meant that I had to find a new school. I did online schooling my 6th grade year but that didn’t work for me or my family at all and so my mom did some looking into schools around the area, and she decided that St. Croix Lutheran would be the right place for me. Since I didn’t know anything about it, I was not open to it at all. I remember the day I went to go shadow; I was crying my eyes out because I didn’t want to go there. I was so against it, but my mom insisted, and oh boy, was I wrong. By the end of the day I was laughing and having fun with people that later on I would become great friends throughout my time at St. Croix. 

What did you enjoy about St. Croix? What were you involved with?

I really enjoyed getting to know everyone and all of my teachers. I think sometimes a small school can get a bad reputation but I had such an amazing experience and got to interact with so many people. I grew great bonds with almost all of the teachers, and I got to meet people from all over the world! I was talking with a lot of my family who had attended a big public high school, and they said that they didn’t know half of their graduating class because of how big it was, and I thought that was crazy! Not only did I know everybody's names in my graduating class, but by the end of high school, Iam pretty confident that I got to know and have a conversation with everyone in my class, which I think was truly special. I also don’t think most people can say that they played on a soccer team with people from parts of Africa, Australia, Serbia, and Brazil, but it was such an amazing time seeing us all come together. 

I was involved in many things at St. Croix. I played soccer, I managed basketball, I did Youth in Government, was a part of student council, was an NHS member, and took multiple AP courses. All of the activities that I participated in went really well, and every single day, I had a lot of fun doing it all. Getting involved was something that I will never regret no matter how busy I got, because through activities and doing things that take place outside of school, it allows you to grow and step outside of your comfort zone. I can confidently say these experiences helped shape me into the person that I am today, and I am way better off for it. 

Can you tell us a bit about your faith story throughout school? Religion classes, chapel, friends, NorthCross?

Coming into St. Croix, I didn’t have a strong faith life. I didn’t go to church, my parents had been divorced, and it being a new school, I didn’t really have any friends. I had gone to church and youth camps as a child, so I knew some stories of the bible, but I really didn’t know the bigger message of Jesus and what that all meant for me. I think that Mr. Kock had the greatest effect on me, because in his class, he made religion fun -- he made learning about my savior something I wanted to come back and do every single day. Sadly, he was only my teacher for the first two years that I was at St. Croix -- 7th and 8th grade. Then moving into high school, I saw my faith growing a lot more through my friendships and fellowship with one another in sharing God’s word. Then the Lord sent one of my friends into my life named Owen Bushaw, and he invited me to church and his youth group at NorthCross church in Lakeville. I went, and ever since, I have been going every single Sunday. For a few months, I would go with Owen and his family, and then I started going by myself and inviting people myself because of the love that I had found for it. Eventually I was even baptized there at Northcross during my senior year during one of the youth groups in front of all my friends, and it was such an amazing experience! My faith journey was never one that was over-night, and looking back, it all started before I was even born with God working through my parents. Although the path that I had wasn’t always easy, it shaped me to be the person God needed me to be. 

What led you to want to go to Martin Luther College? 

I don’t think that there was ever a stand-out reason. Everything in my life all just came together, and I knew that it was the right option for me. I like interacting with others, especially in a school setting, and helping people get to know things, so after a long time of thinking and careful consideration, I set my heart on wanting to become a teacher. That then meant that I needed a subject that I would want to teach, and during my junior year, I took APUSH, and I fell in love with history, understanding a lot of what makes the world and people tick, and how we can apply so much of what happened in the past to the modern day. In addition to a career path, MLC offers so much in activities and sports that I really want to get involved. I know I will play soccer when I'm there, and along with that, I want to get involved in so many activities that I barely have a free day, but I know I will be having fun the whole time. One thing I regret about my time at St. Croix was not doing things earlier. It took me until my junior year to start playing soccer and my senior year before I ran for student council. In both activities, I had wished I had done them for so much longer. 

Anything else you'd want to tell people about your St. Croix experience?

I think that a lot of people, including myself, took so many things for granted at St. Croix. Whether it is having chapel everyday, a caring Christian community, teachers that care for you inside and outside of school, and an administration that works so hard behind the scenes. It can be easy to just look at the small things in our daily lives that aren’t going so well or complain about something small that happens or a new rule we have to follow. But especially my last week of my senior year of high school I took that all in and came to a great appreciation for everything that I was provided with throughout my time at St. Croix and regret not realizing how much I actually had and how great of an environment I was able to grow in each and every day.