VC’s Listi wins Abbeville Rotary Club’s ‘What I Want to Be and Why’ Contest

There’s something good to be said about a high school senior who not only knows what he or she wants to do in life, but why they want to take that path.
Since 1949, the Rotary Club of Abbeville has awarded scholarships to such students, through its annual “What I Want to Be and Why” contest.
“We have awarded this scholarship every year since then,” Rotary Club President Chris Duhon said during Wednesday’s weekly meeting. “Today, we have three worthy candidates.”
Abbeville High’s Gannon Bourque, Erath High’s John Michael Shiner and Vermilion Catholic High’s Joshua Listi attended Wednesday’s meeting as the three finalists. Bourque plans to be an architect, while Listi and Shiner will work to become doctors. A committee reviewed presentations from all the entries from students throughout Vermilion Parish, selecting these three finalists, as well as a winner. The committee made the vote before Wednesday.
“An impartial committee judged these candidates,” Duhon said. “They based it on presentation skills, their plan for community impact and on Rotary ideals.
“We are very excited to announce the winner of this year’s scholarship, Mr. Joshua Listi.”
Listi, the son of John and Carrie Listi, will receive a $2,000 scholarship from the Rotary Club.
“My high school career has been a journey,” Listi said. “I pride myself in my academic achievements.”
Listi has maintained an overall GPA of 4.11 and a cumulative GPA of 3.96. He has a composite score of 32 on the ACT, with a super score of 33. For the past two years, Listi has taken dual-enrollment classes at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. In those classes, he has maintained a 4.0 in math and English.
He is involved with his church, St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church. He has been an altar server since the fifth grade.
“I have been a volunteer at the Christian Service Center and in my community for as long as I can remember,” Listi said. “My dad is the current director of the Christian Service Center.”
That is where Listi performed his Eagle Scout project.
“I was helping to serve the Thanksgiving dinner that they offer,” Listi said. “I noticed that the cafe filled up quickly. For the people who couldn’t fit in the cafe, the option was to leave with their food, or sit outside with food on their laps.”
“Seeing that wasn’t a dignified way to eat, I made that my Eagle Scout project.”
Listi built six picnic tables and donated them to the Christian Service Center.
“I have heard only good things about them,” Listi said with a laugh. “None of them have broken yet.”
Service is a critical element in what Listi wants to be.
“I want to become a doctor,” Listi said. “The first inspiration I can remember that drew me to that is my dad taking me on a mission trip to Costa Rica. A natural disaster had just hit Costa Rica. We had a physician with us on the mission trip. It was inspiring to see him go into homes and provide primary health care that wasn’t accessible otherwise. This was a poor area that didn’t have basic necessities.
“Seeing this physician and the positive effect he had was very inspiring to me.”
Listi will attend LSU on his journey to becoming a medical doctor. Once that journey is complete, not only will Listi plan to find his way home to Abbeville to become a physician, he plans to return to the same places that initially inspired him.
“I will return to medical missions as frequently as I can,” Listi said. “That’s what I want to be and why.”