National Honor Society member will most cherish time on the field

Bryson Thomas

As a member of Hahnville High School’s 2021 graduating class, Bryson Thomas learned many lessons in the classroom. But it was the lessons of hard work and perseverance that he learned on the field, he said, that he will most cherish.

“You can’t not take life lessons from the game of baseball,” Thomas said. “No matter how hard you try, there will always be something that doesn’t go your way. But no matter how hard life hits you, you have to get up and keep going.”

Thomas’ main athletic pursuit at HHS was baseball, but during his senior season he was only able to play seven games before a knee injury sidelined him.

“I tore my meniscus,” he said. “I’m still recovering and still going through physical therapy. I was devastated of course over the injury because I worked all those years and we got cut off last year with the pandemic, but we established something this year that was different from any other year at Hahnville … we won more games this year than we did in the past two years.”

Thomas said he focused his energy on cheering on his teammates after his jury forced him to not be able to play.

“I was just there to lift the team up when they needed it in the dugout,” he said. “My senior baseball class was like a family to me – we’ve been together since 6th grade. They count on you. You have to be tough with them and pick with up when they’re down, but at the end of the day they’re still brothers and you still come back to each other.”

Thomas, a Luling resident, said his love affair with baseball started early.

“I started to play baseball probably when I was like 4 years old,” he said. “I played in the rec department growing up and was on the all-star team.”

Thomas continued to play baseball through middle school and during his time of HHS. At Hahnville he also played basketball, was a member of the student council, served as a freshman advisory mentor and was a member of Beta Club and the National Honor Society.

Thomas’ hard work during his high school years extended outside of the school building and baseball field – during the pandemic he started a lawn care business with a friend.

“It really showed me that you have to stick to your commitments with people,” he said. “It’s real life and taught me how to become more responsible and be better at managing money.”

When speaking of academics, Thomas said it is easy to pick his favorite subject.

“I just fell in love with science,” he said. “I plan on attending LSU and studying biological engineering and work on building braces and prosthetics. I’ve always wanted to go into the medical field … my freshman and sophomore year I wanted to be a surgeon.”

Thomas said although his science-related career goal has slightly changed, he was recently reminded that even in eighth grade he dreamed of working in a science field.

“We wrote a letter to ourselves in eighth grade,” Thomas said. “My original plan was to be an engineer …  we just got those letters back, so I guess I’m kind of going back to my original plan. My letter talked about my main priorities and what was important to me – like time with my family – and I really stuck to what it said. I was proud of that.”

 

About Monique Roth 919 Articles
Roth has both her undergraduate and graduate degree in journalism, which she has utilized in the past as an instructor at Southeastern Louisiana University and a reporter at various newspapers and online publications. She grew up in LaPlace, where she currently resides with her husband and three daughters.

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