Bagwell hopes to follow in father’s footsteps
Daniel Bagwell has made the most out of the three years he has spent at Phil Campbell High School.
Bagwell came to Phil Campbell as a sophomore after graduating as the salutatorian from East Franklin Junior High in the ninth grade.
Now the 18-year-old senior is slated to once again don a cap and gown and he will once again serve as the salutatorian of his graduating class, only this time it will be at Phil Campbell.
Besides earning the title of the second highest-ranking academic student at PCHS, Bagwell was also been involved in numerous clubs and activities that have kept his pretty busy.
Bagwell serves as the president of the school’s National Honor Society, he has been involved in Junior Civitan, and Students Against Destructive Decisions, he is a member of the student council and he represented PCHS as their 2010 Alabama Boys State representative.
Being so involved in his high school experience has made Bagwell realize the importance of all the memories he has made at PCHS.
“I know I’ve only been here three years, but it feels like I’ve been here forever,” Bagwell said. “Things like homecoming games, pep rallies and the junior prom all stand out as things I’ll always remember – just those good high school memories that everyone always looks back on.”
Bagwell said once he graduated in May he would miss his friends, teachers and several classes that he enjoyed.
During his time at PCHS, Bagwell said he has especially enjoyed his vocational classes taught by Orby Sullins and was excited to participate in the Skills USA state competition in Birmingham last year where he won fifth place in the category of power equipment technology.
“We were competing with students from all across the state so this was a pretty big deal,” Bagwell said. “I was pretty nervous because when you walked in you saw station set up for everything from welding to wiring to hair dressing and woodworking. There were all kinds of trades and there were students who were good at each of them.”
Bagwell said he was proud to finish in the top five in his category because it earned him a scholarship to the college he is planning to attend in the fall: Nashville Auto-Diesel College in Nashville, Tenn.
“We’re going back to the Skills USA competition this April, and I’m hoping to do even better this year because it would give me the chance to get an even better scholarship,” he said.
While attending NADC, Bagwell plans to concentrate on an automotive and diesel technology degree with other possible concentrations in heavy equipment and high performance.
“My dad was a diesel mechanic and my uncle is a port engineer,” Bagwell said. “My grandfather was also a mechanic at Reynolds and worked there for two more years after it changed over to Wise, so the career really runs in my whole family.”
Besides the career running in his family, Bagwell said it’s something he just enjoys doing and he knows the importance of having a career that’s enjoyable.
“This is something I’ve been around my whole life, so I’ve learned to enjoy it,” he said. “We own cows so there’s equipment we have to use on the farm and if things break, I have to help fix them.
“I’m also working on some of the same stuff now that my dad used to work on, so that’s pretty fun.”
Bagwell recalled one time when he was around eight years old that his mother took him to visit his father at work in Decatur.
“They were working on a motor home and I actually got to help them out because the space was too small for anyone to fit in except me,” he said.
Bagwell will be moving to Nashville for over a year while he attends college, an experience he said makes him a little nervous since he’s never been to the large Tennessee town for more that one or two days at a time.
“It’s a little strange to think I’ll be living in a big city after having lived here my whole life, but I think going from high school life to college life will be fun – and I’ll be able to come home on the weekends if I want,” he added with a smile.
Just because Bagwell hasn’t spent an extended period of time in Nashville doesn’t mean he hasn’t traveled. In fact, Bagwell has been several places that many 18-year-olds probably haven’t.
“I’ve been to Hawaii and to Las Vegas and I really enjoyed both trips,” he said. “Someday I’d like to travel to Montana and do some elk hunting because I think I’d really enjoy that.”
Bagwell said he does plenty of hunting here in Franklin County. He also squeezes in time for fishing, skeet shooting and four-wheeler riding with his friends when he has the time.
Several years down the road, Bagwell said he wouldn’t mind if he was still living in Alabama.
“In ten years, I’d like to be a diesel mechanic with a good job and I’d like to be living in Franklin County,” he said. “All my friends and family live around here, and this is just home to me.”
If Bagwell moves back to the area after receiving his degree, he will no doubt be involved in several community activities like he is now. Currently Bagwell is a member of the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association and he’s active in his church where he runs the sound system.
This summer Bagwell plans to work on the farm as long as he can and help his grandfather with their cows before he heads off to Nashville, but before he leaves Franklin County behind, he had several words of wisdom for the underclassmen.
“I tell people that your senior year is the best because you’re the top dog but it’s also the worst because when it’s over, you can’t go back,” he said. “My advice would be to do the best you can everyday and put God first.”
Bagwell is the son of Glenna and the late Dudley Bagwell.
