The future feels both wide open and pressing at the same time for Vandalia junior Kameron McNealy. His schedule is stacked with advanced classes—Pre-Calculus now, Calculus next year, and dual credit Anatomy and Physiology with Mr. Forbes through Kaskaskia College. Though engineering is his true passion, he hasn’t shied away from courses that push him outside his comfort zone. “I meant to take Chemistry 2 this year, but it didn’t fit with my schedule,” he explains. “So I took Anatomy instead. At first I wasn’t excited about it, but now I think it’s pretty interesting.”

Engineering remains the center of his vision. Kameron dreams of working in hardware or computer engineering, designing the next generation of CPUs, graphics cards, and other high-performance tools that power technology. “It’s less about writing code and more about what to code and why,” he says. “That’s what separates people from AI.” He even has a dream company in mind: Nvidia. “I’d love to work there. I just hope they don’t get so wrapped up in AI that they stop hiring humans like me.”

That awareness of both possibility and risk shows how much thought Kameron has already given to his path. He knows the importance of math—“it’s the language that explains everything,” he says—and he’s hungry to keep learning, even when it’s hard. He imagines a world in the 2030s where AI might walk the streets, but he also believes humans will always be needed to direct the why behind the technology. “I like learning,” he adds. “It’s really fun to me.”

Much of that drive comes from his family story. Kameron’s biological father left early in his life, and for years, stability was hard to come by. His mother, Kristy, endured struggles that could have broken their family, but she pushed through. “She went through a lot, but she’s always been my role model,” he says. “She showed me how to keep going and how to make other people’s lives better.” When his stepfather Justin entered his life, adopting him at age ten, the family found the stability they needed. “He brought comfort and safety. Everything kind of came together.”

That background instilled both resilience and empathy in Kameron. He wants to succeed for himself, but also to lift others along the way. “I try to maintain myself, but also make other people happy at the same time,” he says. Even his younger brother, just six years old, is part of that vision. “He’s got a big ego,” Kameron says with a laugh, “but I try to teach him to want to learn instead of just staying in the same spot.”

When he talks about college, Kameron’s ambition shines through. Missouri S&T and the University of Illinois are strong possibilities, but he hasn’t ruled out Northwestern or even MIT. “I’ve gotten some emails from MIT,” he says, noting that while money is a concern for the family, he believes scholarships and financial aid could make even the most selective schools possible. He’s already looking into opportunities like QuestBridge that connect talented students from rural communities to elite institutions.

Outside academics, Kameron keeps life balanced with track and field, where he throws discus, and with a part-time job at Ponderosa. He values the personal connection he has with the owner there, admitting he worries about losing that kind of direct relationship if he ends up at a huge company. “I’m not sure if I want to go into a big business, but it’s one of my options,” he says. For now, the work keeps him grounded while he maps out bigger horizons.

His teachers have played a role in shaping his path too. He credits retired instructor Mr. Marquardt for showing him how real-world problem-solving works. “We simulated real-life scenarios in his class. It showed me that engineering is really just about solving problems.” English teacher Mr. Redden also left an impression, encouraging him to think about how people see the world. Kameron’s conclusion? “I think humans have the ability to do great things. A lot of us just choose not to. I wish we could come together and be more productive.”

For a student who’s already balancing advanced coursework, a job, sports, and big ambitions, Kameron McNealy is doing more than keeping up. He’s building a future out of resilience, curiosity, and the belief that people—and not machines—still hold the most important answers.