Silas Petersen walked into the doors of La Salle on the first day of his freshman year without a single friend. Coming from Cascade Heights Public Charter School, Petersen found himself adjusting from an eighth grade class of 19 students to a ninth grade class of somewhere around 170.

Now a senior, Petersen was voted by the student body as the Lasallian Star, which is La Salle’s spin on homecoming king or queen. Five seniors were selected by their classmates for homecoming court as representatives of each of the five Lasallian core values: concern for the poor and social justice, faith in the presence of God, quality education, respect for all persons, and inclusive community.

Then, the entire school voted on the Lasallian star out of the five individuals selected for senior homecoming court, picking Petersen. 

“I am very honored that so many people thought I should get it,” Petersen said. “It’s really awesome to know that so many people support [me].”

Voted as the best representative of the Lasallian core value “respect for all persons”, Petersen’s friends and peers are very important to him. He values those around him and prioritizes his social life, because “[friendships are] what make [me] really happy.”

Aside from going to school and hanging out with friends, Petersen spends his time working, making videos, and participating in Boy Scouts. 

For the past two years, he has been leading his Boy Scout troop as senior patrol leader, which is the highest position in the troop. He plans weekly meetings and monthly camp outs, teaching skills like leadership, knot tying, and cooking. 

Ever since starting Boy Scouts in sixth grade, Petersen has accumulated 125 nights of camping, traveling with his troop to all sorts of different places like Mt. Hood, Crater Lake, and his favorite location — “Crack in the Ground”, which is a two mile fissure in the desert in Christmas Valley, Ore. Petersen has been camping every single month for three years.

“I love camping,” Petersen said. “Going outside, hiking, and being in nature.”

Through his experience with Boy Scouts, Petersen said he has developed leadership skills, improved at public speaking, and grown in responsibility. 

“Being a leader, especially in Boy Scouts, requires a lot of responsibility,” he said. “The adults just don’t do everything for you. If you want to do well, you have to do well.” 

Over the summer, Petersen worked at Classic Pool and Spa, testing pool water for people to see what chemicals they need. He no longer works for Classic Pool and Spa, but rather focuses his time and energy on staying busy with Boy Scouts, school, and videography.

After receiving a GoPro for Christmas four years ago, Petersen started filming and editing videos for each camp out he went on. Continuing to practice, Petersen began to develop a liking for videography and editing, and was even featured in official Boy Scout promotional videos. 

“Slowly but surely I got a lot better at editing by watching hour-long tutorials on YouTube and making tons of videos,” Petersen said. 

Now, Petersen has converted his unique hobby to a paid job. He works as a freelance videographer and editor after getting noticed and hired by people who saw his videos on YouTube. He has created promotional videos for a variety of clients, from a magician to a water aerobics instructor. 

One video that he made with La Salle junior David Jensen features aerial footage of Willamette Falls.

This year, Petersen is taking three advanced courses — AP Government, Honors Spanish 4, and AP Calculus AB, with marine biology and art foundations as electives. Petersen said he has maintained a 4.0 cumulative GPA and tries to prioritize his work and optimize his time in order to manage heavy workloads.

Petersen said that since starting high school, he feels that he has been at a constant level of extreme stress. However, throughout his experience, he has learned to live with his stress, and advises his peers to do the same. 

“Overthinking what you have to do isn’t [going to] make it happen faster, or it’s not [going to] make you feel better about what you’ve done,” Petersen said. “If you just know that [you’re going to] work as hard as [you] can to get this done, that’s all you can do. Just try your best.” 

Petersen values hard work and lives by the mantra, “Stay busy.” Plastered all around his bedroom are Post-it notes that simply say “work.” Petersen said that seeing these Post-it notes on his computer, dresser, door, and ceiling every day reminds him to stay focused and complete the tasks he needs to.

After high school, Petersen hopes to attend either Oregon State University, the University of Oregon, or George Fox University and study business, because he has “always enjoyed making money and running my own little ventures.”

While many students might find schoolwork tedious, classes boring, and tests and assignments stressful and difficult, Petersen enjoys going to school and feels that sometimes people at La Salle don’t appreciate school as much as they should. 

“I feel like I definitely enjoy [school] more than other people [do],” Petersen said. “I feel like I’m really getting [a] good education, and it’s such a welcoming community. I have so many friends here. People may say that it’s not the best, but I think they just haven’t had a lot of perspective.”

“You can really tell the teachers are organized, they know what they’re doing, [and] they really care, which is really special about La Salle,” Petersen said. “I really am so glad I came to La Salle.”

Looking back on the first month and a half of his senior year and the past three years he has spent at La Salle, Petersen feels that his final year of high school is off to a great start. With a lighter workload in his classes than he had his sophomore and junior years, he is looking forward to relaxing in the spring once college applications are done and has enjoyed being honored as homecoming court and Lasallian Star. 

“Thank you to everyone who voted for me,” Petersen said. “I love you all.”