Three years ago, Paige Low stepped onto Midland Lee’s campus with her eyes wide open. The incoming sophomore wasn’t in awe of her new surroundings, though. Even on that first day, she was looking for ways to help.

“I was just eager to get involved,” Low, now a soon-to-be graduating senior, said. “I wanted to volunteer with other sports and help where the student council needed help.”

So she jumped right in. When opportunities presented themselves, Low signed up. Need someone to visit with and mentor elementary school students? No problem. Who wants to organize the school blood drive? Look no further. Spend a Saturday cleaning up streets in and around the city with Keep Midland Beautiful? She’s in.

“You get to see the before and after,” Low explained about working with Keep Midland Beautiful. “It feels really good that you are able to make the area around the school look better and the community look better.”

Her interest in service blossomed as a ninth-grader, when she first started serving as a Symphony Belle with the Midland Community Theatre. The Belles volunteer at different events that the theatre puts on, and Low saw the difference the hard work she and her fellow volunteers made for the Midland Symphony Guild.

“I really think that motivated me to be a regular part of things that the student council was doing at school,” she said.

Through the council, Low took part in a number of efforts, including volunteering at elementary schools, the school’s Elevate Teacher Workshop and worked at the Midland ISD offices to help with food distribution to families that needed it.

“I know that I’m very fortunate and that there are people who aren’t as fortunate as I have been,” Low said. “To give back and do things for people who don’t have as much is rewarding in itself.”

“I hear from a lot of people who think they work hard,” Midland Lee Athletic Coordinator and football coach Clint Hartman said. “I always tell them to watch her. Your definition of what hard work really is will change.”

Hartman’s watched Low compete – and succeed (she’s the 2019 6A state track champion in both the shot put and discus and a multi-year letterwinner in basketball) – in athletics, but he’s more impressed with her positive attitude and willingness to help wherever she’s needed.

“I’ve never seen Paige Low have a bad day,” Hartman said. “She is always there to help everyone in her life, and she always does it with a smile.”

The day Low’s Midland Lee athletic career came to an end – she suffered a season-ending knee injury prior to basketball season – may not have been her best day or one that was full of smiles, but as she put in the work to recover after her surgery, she saw another way she could help.

She’ll head off to the University of Oklahoma as a member of the track team later this year. When she’s not working on her throwing or volunteering her time wherever it’s needed, she’ll start studying to become a physical therapist.

“Ever since I tore my ACL during basketball season, I’ve been going to physical therapy a lot,” Low said. “I can really see myself doing this. That’s just another way to help people.”