Dair McNinch
Athlete turns to local newspaper
By: Melvin Harris
Dair McNinch, a 17-year old student athlete, is not the average student.
Dair is involved in many extracurriculars such as football, rap club, and newspaper. During his free time, Dair can be found riding the waves of the Outer Banks or boxing with friends and perfecting his craft.
Playing strong safety on the football team, being chef at a seafood restaurant, and hosting a rap club fit in a normal day for this teen. Staying active and fit is not the only benefit from being involved in sports, Dair said. Participating in football and boxing have taught him life-long values.
“In football I learned that any goal that you want to set yourself to, the only way you are going to be able to do it is because you tell yourself you are going to do that” said Dair. “Boxing taught me to be able to take a hit and keep punching because life is going to throw punches at you.”
Dair is big on giving back to the community. If Dair is not boxing, making tackles, or freestyling, he most likely is volunteering at his local fire station. He believes working at Southern Shores Volunteer Fire Department is volunteering like no other.
“I believe really hard in karma, especially in my community” said Dair. Good things happen when you do good things. I think it’s a cool service thing because I can be at my house and get a call from someone that actually needs help, and help them. With this you can make an impact on somebody’s life in a life or death situation”.
People usually say that their favorite athlete or parents are their role models. For Dair, popular rapper, Eminem is the person he looks up to. He believes Eminem represents tenacity and resilience, things he tries to embody himself.
Dair said, “A lot of people don’t like Eminem. Through his whole life he’s faced doubt and people telling him what he can’t do. He has this attitude where he is going to tell you about himself and doesn’t really care about what you think of him”.
McNinch has always been a go to writer and recently was elected an editor for his school, First Flight, in Kill Devil Hills. However, McNinch will be taking on a new adventure. He will be writing for his local newspaper called the Outer Banks Sentinel. McNinch approaches this new task with an open mind and a willingness to learn more about journalism.
“I’d like to be able to get my foot in the door with a professional newspaper because that’s something I’ve never done before” Dair said.
Dair is preparing to start to work as an editor for his school newspaper as he journeys onto becoming a professional writer.