Being a senior has its perks.

There is only one year remaining in high school. Going through his last year of high school, Downey has relished his time at A.J Dimond High.“It has been an eye opening experience with a lot of new things with doors opening and closing.”

One of his best friends is Brandon Thomas, a fellow senior who has been an acquaintance of Downey’s since seventh grade and best friend since freshmen year says that his favorite memory with Henry was “winning state last year of the varsity Color Guard drill team.”

Another friend of Downey’s is Elisha Connella, a Junior who has known Henry for three to four years, he admits that his favorite memory with Henry is “When we had to park the park the car and walk home, it’s a long story.”

His girlfriend Meghan Lindbeck, who is also a senior, says that her favorite memory with Henry is “It was in the summer when we heard the ice cream truck, but it drove away too fast so we ran barefooted into a whole new neighborhood chasing it.”

People are of course complicated beings, so there are many qualities in people, when asked about her favorite thing about Henry, Lindbeck has said “the fact that he’s honestly more like my best friend then my boyfriend is my favorite thing, the boyfriend part, is just a perk.”

Conella has said that his favorite thing about Henry is “He’s always there for me, an ear to talk to when I need one. Like he’s my brother.”

Master Sgt. Shelley has been Downey’s instructor for his Junior and Senior year of high school. He has known Downey since his freshman year. He says that “Henry has progressed from being a brand new Let 1 with no knowledge of JROTC, to being one of our most experienced and knowledgeable cadets in the senior class.”

Downey is a successful JROTC cadet, and an exceptional student in all his courses. He has said that “I plan on either attending a college through ROTC or attending the military academies to be commissioned as an officer in one of the five military branches with an engineering degree.”

Downey has exhibited his intelligence, in fact Linbeck has admitted “That when I see his straight A’s, or hear of his academic achievements, it has me feeling less of myself since I am so competitive, but he motivates me to do better also.” So it is not exactly difficult to imagine Downey succeeding in either of his goals. Lindbeck also said “I think that the fact that he went to Boys Nation and Boys State. Paired with him being Alaskan Native and his exceptional grades that it will help him stand out from all the other applicants.”

Four years sounds like a long time, but can disappear in the blink of an eye. With the end of his senior year approaching Downey says “I’m excited to graduate and move on to the next step that, for me is still to be determined.”