Pioneer Academy highlights senior for accomplishments in classroom and the gym
Student faces adversity in the ring and life. Gabe Allen, a senior at Pioneer Academy, is not unfamiliar with facing adversity head on. As an active participant in mixed martial arts coached at a local gym in Carson City, Gabe is used to facing challenging opponents.
In the gym, he works tirelessly to perfect his skill and technique, constantly trying to improve what he is capable of doing to not get knocked down. And when he does get knocked down, he gets right back up to work on improving himself. That determination to battle his opponents he has also applied to life and school. To achieve the honor of Eagle Scout with the BSA, Gabe put together a self-defense seminar to demonstrate and teach women the skills of how to protect themselves.
Though he showed poise and confidence during his project, that wasn’t always the case with school and growing up. Gabe said he has struggled with self-doubt and that came to a climax during his ninth grade year when his grades started to fall apart. Instead of giving up on his situation or just accepting his fate, Gabe fought back changed schools to attend Pioneer High School and retrained himself.
Though this is still a work in progress, Gabe has managed to improve his grades significantly from that ninth grade year to taking classes at Western Nevada College (WNC) in the Jumpstart program and earning a perfect score on the ACT science exam. Next year Gabe plans on using his gaining confidence to attend WNC then transfer to the University of Nevada to study psychology or engineering. When asked who helped him through the difficult times, Gabe gave credit to his friends and family who stuck by him when he was knocked down.
He also stated that he had to rely on himself to get back in the ring but the teachers and staff at Pioneer really helped him turn things around, “Pioneer High has been a lifesaver for me. My freshman year I needed something different. The teachers at Pioneer really care for their students. Not only are they good teachers, they are just good people.”