‘Kinsey drive’: Battery Creek student graduates from high school with associate degree
Lukas Kinsey was born with a gift.
It wasn’t his athletic talent, though he’s been a baseball and football letterman all four years of high school. It was his ambition.
“I call it the Kinsey drive,” his father William Kinsey said. “Me and my wife Kersty could not have asked for any better kids. Not just educationally but just all around.”
People at Battery Creek High School are familiar with the Kinsey Drive. Lukas’ sister Darby Kinsey is a rising junior there, and William Kinsey is an alumnus who’s taught social studies there for 26 years.
When Lukas graduates from Battery Creek on Friday, it’ll be as a senior scholar, a student who’s kept a GPA above a 3.5 for their whole senior year. He’s also graduating with an associate degree from Technical College of the Lowcountry.
While other students treaded water during the pandemic, Lukas decided to attend summer classes at TCL. He’ll enter college in the fall as a junior.
Part of his drive can be attributed to his upbringing at the school.
“A lot of teachers my dad works with, they’ve known me since I was born,” Lukas said. “But I can’t slack off, I can’t get in trouble.”
A lot of it, his dad said, is due to Lukas’ own hard work.
Lukas will attend Charleston Southern University, where he plans to walk on to the football team and study exercise science and sports management.
“I’m interested in becoming an athletic director or working with professional sports programs,” he said. “I know that’s a big aspiration. But I’ve also thought about becoming a personal trainer or a strength and conditioning coach for a high school or college. I’m sure it’ll change.”
William Kinsey said no matter what happens, he hopes Lukas keeps his “go-getter attitude” in the next chapter of his life.
“It’s so important to keep that work ethic and have goals like that,” he said. “Our conversations always end with, ‘Son, stick to the plan. It’s worked so far, just stick to the plan.’”