By:Joseph Kellard
There are people who lack self-confidence but fruitlessly try to build it by boasting to others about their qualities and attributes. In others, an authentic confidence is evident in their actions, not any words. It's in how competently they perform their work, and in their positive can-do attitudes when faced with obstacles standing between them and their goals. One such individual is Oceanside High School graduate Ryan Lucas.
"His charisma and genial disposition, coupled with his quiet confidence and inexorable quest to become the best at any endeavor which he pursues, distinguishes Ryan as a leader," said Frank Nappi, Lucas' English teacher in his sophomore and junior years.
"He is one of those students who leaves an indelible mark on a teacher's life. In a time when we are plagued by stories of unspeakable atrocities committed by our country's youth, Ryan is the proverbial 'ray of hope.' His very presence restores my belief in all that is supposed to be good in this world."
While clearly having left his mark on the classroom, Ryan's rays of talent have shined on the lacrosse field, as well. For those who argue that sports lack substantial usefulness to society, he demonstrates the character they can help build in people. Discipline and learning to be team player are just two such characteristic he's developed from sports, said his mother, Pamela Lucas.
Pamela's son has been playing organized sports since kindergarten. Before long, he was playing basketball and lacrosse, the latter of which became a particular love of his. A decade after taking his first steps on a lacrosse field, Ryan will now attend Hofstra University, where he'll take the field for one of the top lacrosse programs in the nation.
Such a ride would be a long and hard one for any student-athlete, but Ryan's journey was even more unique. At the end of 7th grade, Ryan developed cholesteatoma, a growth within the middle ear cavity that can destroy membranes and the canal wall. It usually results in conductive hearing loss. To correct this ailment and restore hearing to its best possible level often requires at last two surgeries, the second one performed to insure that there is no residual disease that can potentially "seed" and repeat its destructive process. Ryan required multiple surgeries.
Having already lost the hearing in one ear, Ryan's second surgery revealed that his condition hadn't improved and all the bones had to be replaced again. This was followed up by other surgeries.
During these years, Ryan was as active as any youngster, playing lacrosse, basketball, soccer and volleyball. But the surgeries demanded that he give up contact sports for a few months while he was healing. Because of his love of lacrosse, his family scheduled his surgeries around his lacrosse season.
Ryan's mother said that they never realize how much his ailment impacted his day-to-day hearing until he went into a foreign language course and couldn't read lips. But, as he demonstrated with his determination to continue playing lacrosse, Ryan wouldn't allow his ailment to effect him negatively.
"The summery of his attitude for how he looked at his problem is captured in the quote he chose for his yearbook: 'We all have stumbling blocks...What is most important is turning them into stepping stones," his mother said.
Ryan's attitude speaks loudly in the form of his achievements, both in athletically and academically. While on the Oceanside Middle School's lacrosse team, he played midfield and attack and was named Rookie of the Year in 7th grade and Most Valuable Player in 8th grade. In 9th grade, he started on Junior Varsity attack and once again received MVP honors.
By 10th grade, he was a starter on the varsity and received All Conference honors, scoring the most goals and helping to take his team to the Nassau County quarterfinals at Hofstra University. In 11th grade, he scored 11 goals in a single game during a season in which he became an Honorable Mention All-American.
This past season, Ryan's 134 goals broke the school career scoring record and, for the second year in a row, he was named Most Valuable Player, Honorable Mention All-American and All County en route to leading OHS to the Nassau County Lacrosse championship.
"He's not very big in stature, but he plays lacrosse like a giant," said Jeff Resnick, principal of Oceanside High School. "He's a hard-working, respectful gentlemen on and off the field and very liked by his peers. This is both a credit to his school and his family."
Academically, Ryan was an honor roll student during his junior and senior years. In his junior year, he received a science achievement award for maintaining an average of at least 93 in Regents Chemistry.
Throughout most of his time in school, Ryan received yearly recognition in the Oceanside School District Art Festival; in 8th grade he was named Most Outstanding Student and received Honorable Mention Art; and in 11th grade was again named Most Outstanding Student for his work with ceramics and sculpture. The works he created in his junior year made him eligible to participated in the Nassau Community College Honors Program Art Competition.
One of the OHS club activities he's participated in was the Distributive Clubs of America (DECA), a national association of marketing education.
"I have acquired a better understanding of marketing, management, leadership and civic responsibility," Ryan said about his involvement with the program. "Competing on State and National levels has encouraged my self-confidence and enhanced my self-esteem. DECA has given me a solid background for future college courses and will help me attain my career goals." In 1998, he participated in and graduated with honors from DECA's Boston Leadership Academy and received a Certificate of Excellence.
Among the many school actives he's been involved with are Family Math, Science & Technology Day, in which he worked on publicity for a carnival committee; Battle of the Classes, in which he participated in athletic activities and competitions and fund-raisers for various charities; and Back-to-School Night, in which he directed parents to classrooms and offered hospitality.
"Ryan was always actively engaged in class and often pursued additional instruction on his own time in order to enhance the quality of his learning," Nappi said. "This insatiable desire to fulfill his academic potential is perhaps the best example of Ryan's exemplary work ethic and commitment to achieving academic excellence."
Ryan recently received the Atlantic Express Inc./Courtesy Bus Company Scholarship Award, which is given to students who have been selected as outstanding students at OHS's annual Honor Night. "You were selected to receive this award because of your dedication to your studies, overcoming any and all obstacles and achieving the recognition of educators," wrote George Keller, regional vice president of the company, in a letter to Ryan.
While at Hofstra, Ryan plans to take courses on recreation, and seeks a career coaching high school or college sports, with the goal to be a lacrosse coach.
Certainly, Ryan has a track record that makes you believe with confidence the odds aren't against him.
