He wakes each morning with two passionate voices battling within. “Be creative! Provoke change!” cries his right brain as his left brain screams, “Logic! Academics! This is our path!” Nicholas Dimond knows that many great artists face similar internal struggles. As he heads off to the Minerva Schools at KGI in San Francisco, his goal is to strengthen both voices for the common good. “I want people to change their view after reading my stories or experiencing my art,” he says. “I want them to see the world through a different lens.” Feeding his artistic and practical sides has so far paid off for the college freshman, who is leaning toward studying journalism or architecture. He excelled as a high school student, earning a spot in the National Honor Society and shining as a saxophonist while performing in musical and theater productions across the state. Beyond his school’s walls, he became an Eagle Scout who completed his service project by using his musical talents to organize a concert for local senior citizens. With the start of his higher education upon him, music continues to be a common thread connecting, and in some cases paralleling, the various aspects of Dimond’s life. Nicholas Dimond Minerva Schools at KGI (San Francisco) That intricate relationship is evident when he speaks of the instrument that has captured his heart since childhood: the saxophone. “There are very few occasions where it isn’t part of the ensemble because it has this innate ability to fit into everything,” he says. “I’ve enjoyed playing it with different people in different settings. I don’t think I would have had those same opportunities had I played an instrument like the trumpet or the clarinet.” His musical success – he made allstate band three consecutive years – is the result of a dedication Dimond says he learned from his parents, Scott and Kathleen Dimond, a district/ regional finance manager in the Rocky Mountain Ready Mix District. “They’ve encouraged me to do my own research and preparation,” he says. “They’ve provided all the support I’ve needed.” This fall, the teen takes the lessons of his family to Minerva, where he says his Martin Marietta scholarship will allow him to focus less on working to survive and more on working to thrive. “It means I can be open to internships and working toward my future instead of working toward my food,” he says. “It means I can fill my time with activities that will benefit my career.” ▼ Just the Facts: Nicholas Dimond High School: Peak to Peak Charter School (Lafayette, Colorado) Weighted GPA: 4.634 Creator with a Spray Can: Craving an artistic outlet, Nicholas often traveled to nearby Boulder, Colorado, to use a legal graffiti wall as a canvas for his drawings and paintings. www.martinmarietta.com | September/October 2017 The Conveyor 13 PHOTO BY BOB MILLER Nicholas Dimond with his parents, Scott and Kathleen Dimond.
30175PP
To see the actual publication please follow the link above