Renaissance Man at Age 17

LHS Senior Jacob Nordman

To talk with him is to know: Jacob Nordman is a renaissance man at age 17.  Judging by the number of musical things he does—a role in the spring musical, trumpet player in bands, accompanist of the jazz vocal ensemble, and vocalist in the liturgical choir– you’d think his college plan would be to study music.  “But I’ll probably pursue an engineering degree, since I like science and math, and have a logical mind,” he says.  “Music will be more of a hobby.”

A student of honors pre-calculus and math, and taking advanced placement courses in history and biology, it’s obvious that Jacob has options.  He’s also involved with the Lego Robotics Club, which is sponsored by IBM, in which students build and program robots.  During last year’s competition, the students had to build a robot that could find and remove scattered ping-pong balls from a little room built of two-by-fours.

Academics and extracurricular activities aren’t the only things that excite Jacob about Lourdes.  “The coolest thing is that it’s faith-centered.  It’s not just that I go to mass on Sunday, it’s how I live my life.”  He finds that having a shared faith and mutual respect creates a community experience like no other.  Anticipating graduation next spring, he can’t imagine being better prepared for the future.