Hubbard looking at forestry career

Editor’s Note: Franklin’s Future is a regular feature spotlighting a high school senior in Franklin County and what they have planned for life after graduation.

Red Bay High School student Zachary Hubbard has been busy the last four years of high school with activities ranging from athletic teams to church events.

The 17-year-old senior has been an active member of the school’s Students Against Destructive Decisions organization, the Spanish and English clubs, the Beta Club, the 4-H organization and the Science Club.

Hubbard has also been a member of the football, basketball and baseball teams while attending RBHS, and he said the time he has spent being a part of those teams has been his favorite part of his high school career.

“On Friday nights, it was great to walk out on the football field and see the crowd cheering,” Hubbard said. “I enjoyed all the sports I played and the community support Red Bay’s teams always received. I’ll really miss those experiences when I graduate in May.”

With all the activities and organizations he has participated in over the past four years, it’s a little wonder that Hubbard was also voted as Best All Around for the Class of 2011.

“I’ve enjoyed going to school here,” he said. “I’ve gone to Red Bay my whole life, been in the same school my whole life, so there are definitely things I will miss when I’m gone, like seeing my friends every day. But there are things that I won’t really miss, too – things that I think will be better once I go to college.”

Hubbard said he plans to attend Northwest-Shoals Community College for the first two years of his college experience.

“I’m really looking forward to meeting new people at college,” Hubbard said. “While there are some good things about attending the same school your whole life, it can also be bad because you don’t ever really meet anyone new.”

After completing his basics at NWSCC, Hubbard plans to transfer to Mississippi State University in Starkville, Miss., to pursue a degree in forestry.

“I have really enjoyed the environmental science class I took here at Red Bay, so that made me think I would enjoy a career in forestry,” Hubbard said.

“I also love being outdoors hunting, fishing and riding four wheelers, and I love being around animals, so having a job where I was able to be outside everyday is something I think I would enjoy.

“I also think I’ll like helping with the environmental aspect of having a forestry career, too.”

In ten years, Hubbard said he hopes to have a family, a steady career in forestry, and would like to live in either Tupelo or Florence.

“I’ve lived here my whole life, but in the future I think I’d like to live somewhere that has more restaurants and things to do,” Hubbard said, “but I also don’t want to be too far from home because my family lives here.”

Hubbard said he’d also like to travel during his lifetime and he’s like to see his favorite sports team, the Alabama Crimson Tide, win another national title.

“I want to actually be at the game whenever they win again,” he said. “That would definitely be a memorable event.”

While Hubbard is now looking towards his future, he is also reflective of some of the more memorable moments of the past four years, and Hubbard said there was one experience he knows he’ll never forget.

This past year, Hubbard was sitting in Sunday School at Red Bay’s Free Will Baptist Church like he does most every other Sunday.

During the lesson, a man Hubbard did not recognize walked in and asked if they had seen a missing child walking in the church. No one had seen a child and the man left.

Hubbard said he thought the man was probably just a visitor and he didn’t think much about the incident until he left Sunday School and noticed one of the elders organizing people to look for the missing child who had apparently gone missing from one of the homes near the church.

“I asked if I could help find the kid and me and two other people started looking for her in the area outside the church,” Hubbard said.

“Pretty soon, I spotted a little girl in the backyard of an old house close to the church. She was crying, so I got her and brought her back to her family.

“The girl’s family was happy to have her back and that was a moment I’ll never forget.”

At the first of the year, Hubbard received the Good Citizenship award from Red Bay Police Chief Janna Jackson for his involvement in locating this missing child.

This summer Hubbard plans to work so that he can save up some money. He also plans to attend church camp and the Free Will Baptist convention at the end of July.

“A bunch of us are also planning on going to Panama City for our senior trip right after graduation,” he said. “Mostly I just want to spend time with my family and my friends this summer before I get ready to start college.”

Hubbard said the past four years have seen their share of fun times and not-so-fun times, but he wants underclassmen to know that it’s all worth it in the end.

“Whenever the going gets tough, don’t quit or give up,” he said. “When you’re a senior you’ll see that all the hard work will eventually pay off.”