By Elizabeth Lowe
Twitter: @ReviewLowe
ESSEX – Alex Kovalick shifted his focus from sports to his faith.
“It (faith) has gotten to be very important to me,” said Kovalick, a parishioner of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Essex. “It’s a good way to live your life.”
A senior at Mount Carmel’s parish school, which he has attended since pre-kindergarten, Kovalick called faith “a very individual thing.”
“I pray daily,” Kovalick said. “That’s part of your whole relationship with God.”
Kovalick enjoys sharing his faith, by helping to plan Masses, prayer services and retreats. He has attended the High School Leadership Institute (HiLi), an annual program that works to hone youths’ leadership skills and equip them to be church leaders.
The 17-year-old is a member of Boy Scouts of America Troop 355, sponsored by Mount Carmel. He expects to become an Eagle Scout in spring 2013. For his Eagle Scout project, Kovalick plans to refurbish the benches on Mount Carmel’s soccer field.
Kovalick has been elected his troop’s senior patrol leader.
A member of the school’s Student Government Association, Kovalick was the organization’s historian his junior year. He is also a National Honor Society member and the organization’s treasurer.
Kovalick, who has a 4.26 GPA, and a classmate are co-ranked first in their class.
“It’s made me proud of putting in the work,” he said.
During his junior year, Kovalick took a theology class at St. Mary’s Seminary in Roland Park with students from across the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
He is taking college-level courses at Mount Carmel through the Community College of Baltimore County. When Kovalick graduates in the spring, he expects to have earned 24 college credits.
He plans to major in aeronautical engineering in college, but has not yet selected a school.
A two-season athlete, Kovalick has been on the Cougars’ varsity wrestling team since his freshman year.
“I really like the fact that it takes a lot of discipline,” said Kovalick, who is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 152 pounds.
He was on the varsity soccer team the last three seasons, after playing soccer since age 5 for Mount Carmel’s youth and club teams.
Kovalick, who has coached in Mount Carmel’s summer sports camp, also coaches Mount Carmel’s girls’ youth soccer team with his mother, Stephanie Kovalick.
“I’d like to do more volunteer work,” he said.
Missy Lawrence, Mount Carmel’s campus minister, said Kovalick is “mature in his faith” and lives his faith.
“He’s a young man who is open to growth,” Lawrence said.
Michael Naunton, Mount Carmel’s assistant principal, athletic director and head varsity baseball coach, described Kovalick as “a well-rounded kid” with a good work ethic.
Wrestling his freshman and sophomore years, Kovalick didn’t experience “as much success as he would have liked,” Naunton said. “He didn’t quit. He never gave up.”
Alex Kovalick
Our Lady of Mount Carmel School
Senior
Credentials: Member of the National Honor Society and Student Government Association; involved in peer ministry and Boy Scouts; has attended HiLi and is a parishioner of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Essex; wrestler for Cougars
Copyright (c) Dec. 22, 2012 CatholicReview.org