The fieldhouse filled with anticipation as the music stopped during the final round of musical chairs. Just in time, he dove for the last chair and won. “Everyone ran up and started crowding around me,” he said, smiling at the memory. Kacper Piekutowski, a senior at East Leyden, has been active in both sports and work throughout high school. He’s part of the water polo and swim teams. Kacper also works as a lifeguard at a pool. As graduation gets closer, Kacper is focusing on his future, which includes attending his dream school, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, to major in accounting. Sports have played a big role in Kacper’s life; they keep him motivated through high school. “I’ve been doing swimming, water polo since freshman year,” he said. “I’ve been working as a lifeguard since the summer going into junior year.” Balancing work, sports, and senior year can be tough, but Kacpers learned to manage it all. “It feels okay,” Kacper said. “Kind of tired, honestly, a lot of work.” The long days and short nights of senior year are starting to catch up with him. “Oh yeah, absolutely,” he said when he was asked about experiencing senoritis. “I haven’t done, like most, of my homework so far this year,” but he still does “good on the tests.” Between school work and college applications, Kacper admits that it has been a lot to handle.“It’s been terrible,” he said, laughing, “I went to sleep at 3:30 last night finishing everything”. His motivation comes from his family, who have supported him through it all. “They pay for absolutely everything,” Kacper said. “I’ve been blessed with a giant Mercedes, Audi, they pay for absolutely everything, all my clothes.” His parents’ support pushes him to keep working towards his dreams and future goals. “Hopefully I’ll go to UW-Madison,” he said. “That’s my dream school.” When thinking about life post graduation, Kacper already has big goals in mind. “I think in five years, I’ll be in a very nice vehicle, maybe like an Audi, very nice Audi, I’ll be making millions,” he said with a smile. From winning musical chairs at junior olympics to late nights studying and filling out college applications, Kacpers determination and optimism will take him far beyond Leyden.