As you walk through the halls at Dimond you’ll see a lot of smiling faces, one of them being Evan McCloskey.

Evan is a senior at Dimond and has been attending Dimond since his freshman year.

McCloskey said, “ I can not wait for May 11th to come, I couldn’t be more excited to graduate from high school and start a new chapter in my life.”

Freshman year Evan played football but decided not to continue the sport.

Instead Evan began his health journey by getting a membership to the nearby gym, Planet Fitness.

McCloskey said, “I started working out January 11th, 2016 and it was the best decision I have ever made.”

Evan has been on a strict gym schedule ever since he signed up for the membership two years ago.

Evan said, “ I never knew how much inspiration and motivation I would get from just working out.”

“ The gym has changed me as a person, I used to be a negative person and hated life and the way I looked. Now I am a happy guy and I feel really confident in how my body looks.”

A lot of other Dimond students also workout at Planet Fitness.

Evan said, “I love seeing classmates working hard at the gym, sometimes it gets hard to balance homework, work and go to the gym, but when I see my friends do it it just gives me more motivation.”

Shayla Blood, a Junior at Dimond, said, “ Almost every time I go to the gym Evan is there. It is awesome to see how he stays motivated and is always working hard to better himself.”

Evan said, “The gym has taught me how to enjoy life and it taught me that you can do whatever you want if you put your mind to it and work hard.”

Since starting his workout journey two years ago, he now works at Planet Fitness.

Evan said, “ working at Planet Fitness has been awesome, it gives me more inspiration

Evan also enjoys getting outside and taking pictures of our beautiful state.

He said, “ I got a new camera a couple years ago for christmas and ever since then I have been figuring out how to use it and learning how to make my pictures turn out good.”

“ I like taking pictures outside which has given me an excuse to go out and explore new places in Alaska to get great pictures.” He added.

Evan said, “If it wasn’t for photography I probably wouldn’t be as outdoorsy as I am today. I used to kind of just stay inside all day and now I can’t stand staying inside. I want to be outside enjoying nature and capturing the moment with my camera.”

He also spends a lot of time camping during the summer.

He said, “ most of my weekends are spent at some sort of lake or mountain with my friends. That is where I have the best memories from.”

When Evan gets a little free time out of his busy life he’ll spend it playing video games online with his friends Wyatt and Cameron.

Evan said, “ I like to play PUBG and GTA on my xbox and use my headset to talk to my friends.”

Wyatt Brown said, “I don’t get to hangout with Evan very much so it’s fun to be able to play xbox and talk on the mic with him a few times a week.”

After high school, Evan is planning on attending Northern Arizona University to get a degree in exercise science.

Once graduated from college, he wants to become a chiropractor to help as many people as possible and one day own his own gym.

He is nervous to leave his home here in Alaska but is very excited to begin a new chapter of his life in Arizona.

He looks forward to accomplishing new goals, finding a great new gym, and making more memories.