Senior Joe Demers reminisced on the last four years as he anticipates graduation and his life beyond La Salle. He said he greatly appreciates the teachers and classes he has had at La Salle, and hopes to take a gap year to work before furthering his education within the next few years. 

Coming from Sellwood Middle School, Demers came into La Salle with a few friendly faces, but departed from most of his middle school friends as they headed to Cleveland High School. His decision to come to La Salle was sparked mainly by his brother Jack Demers, who graduated as a part of the Class of 2020, and is now continuing his education at Western Washington University.

During his time at La Salle, Demers has taken an assortment of electives including Music Technology, Introduction Design Thinking and Tools, and Advanced Design Thinking and Tools. This semester, Demers is taking Weight Training and Marine Biology. “They both challenge me, so that’s cool,” Demers said. 

Music Technology was also an intriguing elective for Demers, as he and his classmates used the software Reason to make music. 

Design Thinking and Tools has also been one of Demers’ favorite parts of attending La Salle. In this class, he has worked on engraving an assortment of items, one of his favorite pieces being an impossible cube, also known as an illusion cube. You can find it in the Innovation and Design Center, also known as the makerspace. 

Design thinking teacher Carrie Coleman has also contributed to Demers’ love for the makerspace. Demers appreciates the wide range of knowledge Ms. Coleman has about her students. “She understands stuff about a lot of people,” Demers said. He also greatly values Ms. Coleman’s leniency in allowing her students to hangout in the makerspace, and her role in creating a safe space for her students outside of class. 

When asked who his role model is, Demers responded with Ms. Coleman. “I aspire to be as cool as her,” Demers said. 

Another person Demers looks up to is his best friend senior Ella Bright. She shares Demers’ love for the makerspace, and he noted his wishfulness in achieving the confidence that Bright has in how she lives her life. “She’s always really confident in everything she does,” Demers said. 

Outside of La Salle, Demers spends much of his time focusing on homework. In a word of advice to underclassmen, Demers said, “make sure to always do your homework, of course, because it really just creeps up on you,” Demers said. He emphasized that when you continue to forget to do something and tell yourself you’ll do it later, it builds up. He described this as a “giant snowball.” 

Aside from maintaining his academics, Demers works as a self-employed video editor. “I’ve been learning a lot about Adobe products,” Demers said. “I’ve gotten so good recently at them that people have started hiring me to edit their videos for them on YouTube.” Demers said he’s edited everything from people’s TikToks, to Minecraft videos, to highlights. 

Demers also spends his time as a drummer, and enjoys playing video games. Although he has never been in a band, Demers has been playing the drums for eight years. His love for music spreads into the digital world as well, with A Dance of Fire and Ice — an online game relating to music and rhythm — being his favorite video game. 

Demers said his favorite song is “XO” by Eden. He feels that it fits his easy-going personality. “I just kind of go with it and don’t really care and just keep going,” he said.