Selis’s senior year was his best year at Mac

To some people, the high school experience is all about going to parties. For others, it’s about meeting new people, and for still others, it’s about getting involved and learning enough to have a successful future.

For senior Henry Selis, it’s about all of these things.

This year alone, he’s been on the soccer team, the football team, the cross-country team and in the National Honor Society. It may seem like life comes easily to the likable senior, but in truth, his success on the field in the classroom have come as a result of patience, persistence and hard work.

Despite participating in Mac soccer since his freshman year, because of injury and circumstance, Selis didn’t play varsity until this year.

“[My senior year] was important in soccer because my performance this year was a result of my efforts to play soccer since freshman year,” Selis said. “It was my first and last year playing varsity soccer and being with a great team.”

The McCallum soccer team is well known not only for the individual skill level of its players but also for the camaraderie they show on and off the field. The varsity team this year suffered a rash of injuries that made for a long season on the scoreboard, but the team maintained its closeness, through a lot of tough games and team dinners together. As a senior and team leader, Selis had a positive effect on the whole soccer team, sophomore defender Camilo Auyero said.

Auyero said that he sees Selis as both a highly skilled teammate and a role model.

“As a senior he provided encouragement,” Auyero said, “and he was a very good striker who was very good in the air.” 

Selis’s leadership extended beyond the pitch.

He become more involved in other extracurricular activities in his senior year, which he said helped him have a well-rounded high school experience.

Selis hopes that his next adventure after graduation will be just as rewarding.

He is taking a gap year and traveling to places such as South Asia and Chile, in order to volunteer around the world.

While his friends and family are happy and excited for his future adventures, they are also sad to say goodbye.

Henry’s younger sister, Camille Selis said that she will miss her older brother tremendously next year.

“It’s sad to see him leave and not have him at home every day, but I know he will have fun traveling and working on his own for a little while.”