Lucien Wallace of Sebago has been selected as the Bridgton-Lake Region Rotary Club’s “Citizen of the Month” for April.

Parents: Vanessa and Jeffrey Wallace

Sibling(s): Rowan and Giselle Wallace

Activities: Summer Program at UC Berkeley with the National Student Leadership Conference, consider Engineering at UMaine in Orono, varsity captain of ski team (two years), Varsity Club award for skiing sophomore year, varsity Soccer, created and captain of boys’ tennis team, Band, Jazz Band, Pep Band, created Jazz combo, Chorus, Jazz Choir, Drama (Fall Play and Spring Musical), Math Team, Student Council, summer work at Jordan’s Store in Sebago

Community activities: National Honors Society, Hollyberry Fair volunteer, helping with the Bridgton Haunted House, ASTRA Club (community service club) — publicity manager, trash pickup days, Habitat for Humanity, setting up food pantry, Yellow Tulip Project, outside community service with Preble Street in Portland

Hobbies: Getting friends together to make music, practicing my instruments, listening to music (especially jazz), experimenting with electrical engineering, practicing boxing (to relieve stress), getting friends to practice and play tennis

Future plans: In my undergraduate studies I plan to earn a degree in civil or mechanical engineering with an environmental focus. I also hope to minor in music and history. In the summers, I will search for internships or co-op opportunities at companies/firms focused on limiting carbon emissions. If I am lucky, I will be able to get a head start on my career by working with a company as I earn my degree in college. Technical and experienced-based skills will be extremely important in order for me to obtain a job in my field. During my undergraduate education, I will take advantage of any opportunities offered to me to travel, especially to a German-speaking country, where I can practice my speaking. After I earn my bachelor’s degree, I plan to continue my education for a master’s degree in environmental engineering with a more refined focus — which I will decide during my undergraduate years. Throughout my education, I intend to continue participating and studying music even though I won’t be majoring in it. After college, I will look for a more permanent position at an engineering firm. Eventually, I am interested in forming a new company focused on counteracting climate change.

What do you consider as traits that make someone a good citizen? Qualified yet humble: If everybody believes that they are best at something it makes it nearly impossible to work as a team. As citizens, it is our duty to contribute our services and/or ideas without being arrogant or rude.

Responsive to feedback and able to give helpful criticism: A good citizen should be able to receive constructive criticism and use it to better themselves. They should also be able to word suggestions in a way that does not put other people down, but instead helps them become a better person.

Selfless: A good citizen must be willing to contribute to their society without expecting an immediate reward. Volunteerism is an important way for citizens to give back and improve their community.

Who has inspired you to be a good citizen and why? My parents and sisters have displayed the qualities of a good citizen throughout my lifetime. Every month, they spend hours of their lives helping others, often receiving nothing in return except the satisfaction of making a difference. My mother and sisters have also spent much of their careers helping others by working with children with disabilities. Additionally, when times are rough for my family, the community has stepped up to support us. Growing up in this wonderful environment, it would be a challenge for me to grow up without the inspiration to be a good citizen.

What have you done to make the school community a better place? Aside from the community service clubs that I am a part of, I also make an effort to expand the opportunities that students at Lake Region have offered to them. In my junior year, my friend and I hatched the idea to form a jazz combo. By the middle of this year, the combo had competed at the district-wide and statewide festivals and won awards at both. In the same year, another friend and I decided to start a boys’ tennis team. It became an overwhelming (and surprising) success with over 20 signatures of interested athletes. We competed in a couple matches that year and plan to participate in many this season. We were even able to go have a few winter practices at the beginning of this year. Next year, the boys will be able to compete at the varsity level and, even though I won’t be around to experience it, I am extremely grateful to have had a lasting effect on the school community through both groups.

Why is volunteerism important? Volunteerism is extremely important because it is a necessary way for citizens to be able to give back to their community. Without volunteerism, many families, such as my own, would not be able to support themselves in the long run. With no volunteerism, families would be forced to sacrifice bare necessities such as food, water, or education for their children.

In the future, what do you see yourself doing to make the world a better place? I want to devote my education and career to studying climate change and ways to counter the effects that it has had on countless communities. Growing up on a small farm has given me a special appreciation for nature and what it gives to my family. Ever since the beginning of high school, I have known that I want to work toward a solution toward this colossal problem that is facing my generation. Recently, I have realized that I want to study engineering with an environmental focus.