By Kiana Madrigal
In this week’s senior spotlight, we are featuring one of the most inspiring students here at Wallenpaupack. Ezra DeFoor moved to Wallenpaupack for his sophomore year, in which he found himself fitting in quickly. He found a passion in the EMT course, which allowed him not only to respond on an ambulance during his student ride time, but gifted him a lot of real-world experience helping people in life altering situations. Ezra has his national EMT certification and is employed as such.
Outside of high school, Ezra is involved with the Hemlock Farms Fire Department as a junior firefighter. He’s responded to multiple calls such as motor vehicle accidents, lift assists, and even structure fires. Along with being an exterior firefighter, Ezra is taking his interior firefighter academy with the school and is only a few steps away from becoming a nationally certified interior firefighter.
When Ezra first started high school, he joined the United States Air Force Auxiliary Cadet Program where he moved up the ranks and achieved the rank of first sergeant position. He was in charge of instructing leadership and character development classes. Influencing his future, Ezra and his ground team would get deployed for search and rescue training which entailed calls for downed aircraft and searching for lost or injured people who are in need of help.
With his high school career coming to an end, Ezra’s favorite memories are during Christmas time with everybody happy about two-hour delays and snow days. Ezra’s passion for helping people has led him to enlist in the United States Marine Corps to serve his nation and become an Aircraft Rescue Firefighter. Throughout his time in high school, Ezra has learned that life is too short to live with regret, so do what you love, and to find something worth fighting for. For him, it’s upholding his middle name, Peace, and spreading around his community and in relationships around him.
