Submitted by Kurt Stranne
Nicolas Lee Stranne has lived his entire life in Maple Valley and was a member of the first class to attend all four years at the new Tahoma High School. Nic was a Junior at THS when Covid prevented in-person classes and went to online training. Rather than allowing the abrupt change to bring him down, Nic used the event as a positive influence. Working with his high school counselor, a plan was formed to aggressively complete his Senior year. Nic finished his graduation requirements over the summer online through Red Comet and was awarded his high school diploma from THS in September 2020; making him what the school said was the first student to graduate after ‘attending’ all four years at the new high school.
Knowing that he was going to graduate early, Nic pursued his dream following the family tradition of military service and joined the United States Navy. Scoring high on the entrance exam, Nic chose the coveted Advanced Electronic Computer Field. Nic is currently in training at the Naval Station Great Lakes, which will be followed with sea duty. As Nic deployed, he told us, ‘The world is a book. If you stay in one place you only read one page. I am going to read the whole book.”
