Tuesday’s Senior Awards program ended with the presentation of the Outstanding Senior Award, a choice of the seniors for the person that best represents the Class of 2023.

The winner? 

Julian Greendeer, who won the Academy Awards title of Mr. NDA earlier in the school year and recently committed to play lacrosse at the University of Detroit.

“My goal with playing lacrosse is to inspire younger generations of indigenous people and act as a role model for them,” said Greendeer. 

Greendeer started playing lacrosse in third grade. His uncle introduced him to it, so he decided to try it out. He was also inspired to play because of its importance in his community.

“My favorite part of lacrosse is the creativity of it and how fluid I can play,” he said. “I like being able to control the offense and move freely in order to win.”

The senior said the sport is very fun for him as he doesn’t feel pressured on the field but instead free and excited.

He is an attacker, which strictly focuses on offense and scoring, and he enjoys that because it facilitates the game for him.

“I just get the ball and do my thing,” he said.

But on top of the pleasure he gets from playing the sport, Greendeer also learned lessons from it.

“Lacrosse taught me to be patient,” he said, as it is a main aspect of the game in order to be successful, “a team is as good as its lowest person.”

Greendeer also mentioned that the NDA team itself helped him grow as a player when he first joined as it is very well connected and creates many friendships. 

“Our team is unique because unlike other teams, there are a lot of first-year players, and that pushed me to become better by teaching the game to my teammates and improving their game simultaneously with mine.”

Although the senior is sad that his high school career is almost over, he is excited to play at the University of Detroit.

“I’ve always wanted to play college lacrosse. Being able to play at a high level is going to be a challenge, but I am looking forward to how it’ll push me to be the best student, lacrosse player, and person I can be,” said the senior.

He decided to play in Detroit for several reasons. First, it is close to Green Bay, which is important for him since he considers himself a “Midwest boy at heart.”

The college also has a good engineering program, a course of study that interests him.

“Also, the lacrosse team chemistry was very close, and my visit there really made me feel like I was already a part of the team,” he added.

Later in life, he still would like to keep pursuing his passion. “I want to continue playing lacrosse after college, whether that is professionally or going around and offering camps to kids.”