A PASSION FOR HELPING PEOPLE. FROM THE BAND ROOM TO THE CLASSROOM, BEHIND THE SCENES AT SCHOOL MUSICALS, TO THE FRONT LINES OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE AT GAMES. PANAGIOTIS PINEROS, KNOWN TO MOST AS PANOS, CAN BE SEEN JUST ABOUT EVERYWHERE AT AUBURN HIGH SCHOOL. AND WHILE HE LOVES MUSIC, PLAYING DRUMS IN CONCERT AND MARCHING BANDS, DEEJAYING, SCHOOL ASSEMBLIES AND DANCES, AND STAGE MANAGING SCHOOL MUSICALS, HIS BIGGEST PASSION IS FOR SAVING LIVES. SO I’M DEFINITELY INTO THE HEALTH CARE FIELD. I LOVE HELPING PEOPLE. THERE’S NOTHING QUITE LIKE IT AND THERE’S SUCH A NEED FOR IT, ESPECIALLY NOW. IT’S THE ONLY THING THAT I COULD SEE MYSELF DOING. THAT MOTIVATED PANOS TO UNDERGO RIGOROUS TRAINING TO BECOME A CERTIFIED EMT. AS SOON AS HE TURNED 18, I WOULD WAKE UP WICKED EARLY AND THEN DO ALL MY SCHOOLWORK FOR THE DAY, GO TO SCHOOL, DO AS MUCH AS I COULD, AND THEN LEAVING SCHOOL, I WOULD TURN MY BRAIN TO EMT ACADEMICS. SO IT GOES FROM DOING CALCULUS TO COUNTING HOW MANY TIMES PEOPLE ARE BREATHING A MINUTE. ONCE HE WAS CERTIFIED, HE COULD VOLUNTEER ON THE SIDELINES AT GAMES AND WITH THE AUBURN FIRE DEPARTMENT. I WAS DOING 12 HOUR DAYS. I WAS DOING, YOU KNOW, I WAS TRYING TO GET 24 HOUR SHIFTS AS WELL, VOLUNTEERING. THERE WAS A LOT OF STUFF THAT I WAS DOING. AND AS HE WRAPS UP SENIOR YEAR, HE’LL BE INTERNING FULL TIME. I’LL BE SHOWING UP HERE AT 7 A.M. EVERY SINGLE DAY, LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE DOING MY MATH. AND THEN AFTER THAT BELL RINGS, I’LL GO TO THE FIRE STATION, YOU KNOW, CHECK IN WITH MY SUPERVISORS, GET MY GEAR ON THE AMBULANCE, AND WORK THAT WORK ETHIC ALREADY PAYING OFF. PANOS HAS BEEN ACCEPTED TO HOLY CROSS, WHERE HE WANTS TO GO PREMED, HOPING TO ONE DAY BECOME AN E.R. DOCTOR. HE COULD DO ANYTHING HE WANTS IN LIFE, SO IF HE WANTED TO BE A PROFESSIONAL MUSICIAN, HE HAS THE WORK ETHIC TO DO THAT. THE FACT THAT HE WANTS TO GO INTO MEDICINE AND IS WORKING AS AN EMT RIGHT NOW, JUST SHOWS THAT HE HAS JUST SUCH A KIND HEART. HE’S A SERVANT LEADER. HE JUST WANTS TO GIVE BACK TO HIS COMMUNITY ALL THE TIME. FOR EVERYTHING YOU DO, AND MOST OF ALL, FOR WANTING TO HELP SO MANY PEOPLE. PANOS PINEROS YOU GET THIS HIGH FIVE.
High school senior turns passion for helping people into lifesaving work
High school senior Panayiotis Poniros, known to friends as “Panos,” is used to staying busy.On any given day, he could be found playing drums in the band room, DJing a school event, working behind the scenes of a musical production or responding to an emergency call.“I’m definitely into the health care field,” Panos said. “I love helping people. There’s nothing quite like it and there’s such a need for it, especially now. It’s the only thing that I could see myself doing.”That passion led Panos to take on a major challenge as soon as he turned 18: becoming a certified emergency medical technician.While balancing school and extracurricular activities, Panos completed rigorous EMT training, often starting his days early and switching gears quickly between academics and emergency medicine.“It goes from doing calculus to counting how many times someone’s breathing a minute,” he said.After earning his EMT certification, Panos began volunteering on the sidelines at school athletic events and with a local fire department, taking on long shifts and gaining hands-on experience responding to real emergencies.”I was doing 12-hour days,” he said. “I was trying to get 24-hour shifts, as well. There was a lot going on.”As he wraps up his senior year, Panos will be interning full-time, spending his mornings in class and the rest of his day at the fire station, ready to head out on 911 emergency calls.His dedication is already paying off.Panos has been accepted to the College of the Holy Cross, where he plans to study pre-med. His long-term goal is to become an emergency room doctor, continuing to help people when they need it most.“He could do anything he wants in life,” said Ginny Bailey, director of instrumental music at Panos’ high school. “If he wanted to be a professional musician, he has the work ethic to do that. The fact that he wants to go into medicine and is already working as an EMT just shows what a kind heart he has. He’s a servant leader who truly wants to give back to his community.”
High school senior Panayiotis Poniros, known to friends as “Panos,” is used to staying busy.
On any given day, he could be found playing drums in the band room, DJing a school event, working behind the scenes of a musical production or responding to an emergency call.
“I’m definitely into the health care field,” Panos said. “I love helping people. There’s nothing quite like it and there’s such a need for it, especially now. It’s the only thing that I could see myself doing.”
That passion led Panos to take on a major challenge as soon as he turned 18: becoming a certified emergency medical technician.
While balancing school and extracurricular activities, Panos completed rigorous EMT training, often starting his days early and switching gears quickly between academics and emergency medicine.
“It goes from doing calculus to counting how many times someone’s breathing a minute,” he said.
After earning his EMT certification, Panos began volunteering on the sidelines at school athletic events and with a local fire department, taking on long shifts and gaining hands-on experience responding to real emergencies.
“I was doing 12-hour days,” he said. “I was trying to get 24-hour shifts, as well. There was a lot going on.”
As he wraps up his senior year, Panos will be interning full-time, spending his mornings in class and the rest of his day at the fire station, ready to head out on 911 emergency calls.
His dedication is already paying off.
Panos has been accepted to the College of the Holy Cross, where he plans to study pre-med. His long-term goal is to become an emergency room doctor, continuing to help people when they need it most.
“He could do anything he wants in life,” said Ginny Bailey, director of instrumental music at Panos’ high school. “If he wanted to be a professional musician, he has the work ethic to do that. The fact that he wants to go into medicine and is already working as an EMT just shows what a kind heart he has. He’s a servant leader who truly wants to give back to his community.”
