Many people look back on their high school years and say the time just flew by. Loyd Star graduate Phillip Maher agrees with that.

     The Class of 2007 valedictorian said he had great memories of his time as a Hornet.

     “I don’t know how I could sum up my memories of Loyd Star in a few words,” he said. “The last few years have flown by.”

     Maher played football for four years for the Hornets, and said when he thinks about his time in high school, a few things come to mind.

     “I can remember my last home football game, graduation and pulling my speech out of my hat when I gave my speech at graduation,” he said. “My speech was about keeping your eyes on God.”

     After graduating, Maher attended Copiah-Lincoln Community College and received his associate’s degree in business. After that he went to Southern Miss and graduated in business administration/entrepreneurship in August 2011.

     He then moved back to Brookhaven and worked at Brookhaven Graphics for a time, but has since moved on.

     “A few months ago I started interviewing with River Hills Bank in Port Gibson,” he said. “I’m currently training to be a loan officer there.”

     Maher said he still lives in Brookhaven part time and commutes to Port Gibson.

     “I have some family that live near Port Gibson and I stay with them about half the week and stay in Brookhaven the other half,” he said.

     The past five years for Maher have gone by quickly, he said.

     “It’s just been a blur, but it worked out just the way I wanted it to,” he said. “I just wanted to get out of school as fast as I could and find a good career.”

     Maher said in the future he is planning on staying at River Hills Bank and working in Port Gibson, but he doesn’t have too many plans for his future except for one thing.

     “I’ll get married at some point in the next year or two, but other than that I’m not going to make any plans,” said Maher. “I’ll just see how life goes.”

     The 2007 valedictorian has been dating Kayla Smith, who is also a Loyd Star graduate.

     A few things that haven’t changed with Maher are his hobbies, which include hunting and fishing. Hunting also weighed into his decision of where to attend college.

     “I did it in high school and all through college,” he said. “I went to Southern Miss because it was close to home and I could come home on the weekends to hunt.”

     To Maher, his time working at Brookhaven Graphics was special to him.

     “My best memory between high school and now would be working at Brookhaven Graphics,” he said. “I had a lot of good friends and good times while I was there. I can’t complain about anyone I worked with.”

     From high school, Maher said he thinks back about his friends.

     “My favorite memories from high school were with my friends,” he said. “I just hate that I don’t get to see many of them the way I used to.

     Because of how quickly things went by for him, Maher advised current high school and college students to enjoy their time in school.

     “Kids in school now should not let it go by too fast, just enjoy it,” he said. “Have as much fun as you can before it’s over.”

     Maher said his time at Loyd Star prepared him well for college.

     “I had no trouble at Co-Lin or Southern Miss,” he said. “I never had any problems with any of the people at Loyd Star.”