Max Phillips-Mantia has quite the resume, known for their selflessness in the community and being in multiple clubs in and out of school. Phillips-Mantia has been participating in the Minooka Fire Department fire cadet program for four months, interested in tennis since the 6th grade, and nominated for Connections Crew by Ms. Michelle Mullen, special education. This interview for Nook News has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: What grade are you in and how old are you?
A: I’m a sophomore and I’m 15.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: In my free time, I would say I like to volunteer for law enforcement events because my parents consist of law enforcement and I like to give back to my community.
Q: What extracurriculars do you do?
A: Currently, I do Connections Crew, JV tennis – singles, and outside of school I’m a fire cadet (for the Minooka Fire Department).
Q: How would you say your tennis season is going lately?
A: We’ve had two matches so far, and I won both. It’s going really well. My very first match I won 8-0. My second match played two sets, I won my first one, lost the second one and won the tie-breaker so I won overall.
Q: Who would you say would be your best competition this year? Why do you think so?
A: I think I’m most nervous to face Neuqua Valley because last year we faced him in a tournament and it didn’t go so well.
Q: So not a lot of people know about this fire cadet program out of school, so tell us more about that.
A: There was a week of experience where we used their snorkeling gear, we threw up ladders, we get our own lockers with fire gear. We do classes, like we did traffic incident classes so that we could do ride-alongs soon. And really we do a lot of physical activity and education.
Q: So is that going better or worse than you thought it would be when you signed up?
A: I would say it definitely exceeded my expectations, and I feel I’m very fulfilled with my choice.
Q: Would you recommend this program to people with the same aspirations as you?
A: Of course. It definitely gives a lot of experience and a good outlook on that career. I would say it’s definitely a good option, not only for helping the community but just really good benefits too. In all aspects, the career is definitely a good path.
Q: How is it being so involved in the school and different activities? What would be your advice for people who want to be as involved as you are?
A: I used to be shy. But once you get yourself out there and become more outgoing and really just kind of get over that stage of awkwardness –just like getting into clubs and just not being afraid to do what you want to do – then I feel like you can really get more involved.
Q: If you could be anything – object, animal, planet – what would you be?
A: I would probably be a planet because animals don’t live forever, and I feel like you can be an object on Earth and you would just stay in the same place but with planets they can rotate and you have different outlooks on the universe and space.
Q: What pet did you always want to have as a kid?
A: A chinchilla for sure. I had two guinea pigs but I realized that “Why have two guinea pigs when you can have a mix between a guinea pig and a bunny, a chinchilla?” And I thought that was so awesome.
Max • Sep 11, 2023 at 8:34 pm
Awesome details and thorough questions!!