By Nate Fisher

Eighth grader Amari Burries makes an impression on a room without speaking a word. With a bright and polite manner, he’s an excellent example of a student who is already on the verge of finding the purpose that means the most to him. Whether that be in the 100-meter hurdle track events that have sent him to state or in the outfield, waiting with glove out, thinking up riffs for the latest composition he’s working on using his new music software.

“When I first moved to Mounds,” Amari admits. “I was really quiet and stuck to myself.” He related a story about how introverted and trapped inside he felt at a younger age. “When I got to Mounds, I started talking to a lot more people, then moved to Chicago [for 7th grade] and reformed my whole self.”

Part of Amari’s reformation involves surrounding himself with the things that motivate him and that he can get into easily. “[My teachers] care about the outside world, but care about the school environment, too,” he relates. Committed teachers cause some of the most long-lasting impacts on students’ trajectory at and around Amari’s age. Amari says his teachers are all there and care about him, and his grades provide the receipts. He chooses to focus most on social studies and gym class, fascinated by the history of the Mayan and Aztec civilizations. “I like knowing more about what’s happened in the past,” he grinned.

The other part of the new, revised Amari is his dedicated plan to start a welding and plumbing company with his brother. After he graduates, he would like to attend a trade school to become a welder or electrician, preferably somewhere in Michigan or Chicago. His brother is currently studying to receive a welding certificate at a Michigan school.

Aside from running a highly-rated, family-owned plumbing and electrical shop, Amari also has a bold, lifelong mission “to change the world.” He said he “would help everyone who struggled with mental disorders and people who suffer through no fault of their own.” Results, he said, can be achieved if he could “just help everyone get the right mindset.” He emphasized this was the best way “to make the world a better place.”

His compassion and empathy sometimes come from an undercurrent of frustration over the desire for things to be better now, or at least not to happen so unexpectedly. In early 2020, Amari discovered his mom’s husband dead in their home due to a seizure complicated by heart problems. “That morning, I found him,” Amari recounted.

The family was devastated, and it was at that moment, he realized he would commit to what always meant the most to him. “It didn’t really shake me. Death is going to happen,” Amari said in a highly insightful response. “So, I wasn’t really phased by it. I was mostly there for my mom, who was really shook-up.”

Today, Amari has emerged from his bubble and instead plays the cool, confident character who does supernaturally well under pressure. Getting out of your own way, and setting your feelings aside so that you can better help others, is a skill that often adults have yet to master, and Amari is already showing signs that he gets it. If he were to spread this attitude evenly toward everything he applies himself, then no obstacle could stop him on his way to grab his share of success. To reform yourself in 8th grade because you don’t see something working is no small feat, and we have faith it will only be one of many more achievements to come.