Shooting for Excellence: Pieraccini Credits His Hillsdale Experience for Teaching Career
Written by Doug Goodnough
Lucas Pieraccini, ’20, had to try out to earn a spot on the Hillsdale College shotgun team.
“The head coach informed me that I needed to improve if I wanted a spot on the team,” he said. “I was and still am passionate about clay target shooting, and knew I wanted to shoot for Hillsdale, so I invested the necessary training and practice to make my goal a reality.”
When he arrived on campus, he got his shot at the team’s first travel competition. The result? Not one miss out of 100 trap targets. Four years later, Pieraccini helped the Chargers win two national championships, numerous other competitions, and served as a two-time team captain.
A personal highlight was winning the Lindenwood University competition.
“At this competition, I shot 250 out of 250 skeet targets straight in pouring rain and gusting wind,” Pieraccini said.
He was also nationally ranked at the 2019 ACUI Nationals, which is the largest collegiate clay target competition of the year.
However, Pieraccini said the growth he experienced both in the program and as a Hillsdale student is what best sums up his college experience.
“Hillsdale changed me in every aspect of my character, both academically and socially,” he said. “In the frequent failures, constant striving, and occasional accomplishment, I received the greatest blessings of my life that I am only now beginning to recognize.”
He said he advanced in areas like work ethic, critical thinking, humility, and a striving for excellence while at Hillsdale. Originally on a pre-med path at Hillsdale, he said he soon realized that education was his future career path.
“One day in Dr. Franklin’s Great Books course, when we were discussing a particularly compelling chapter of Paradise Lost, I realized that I would find engaging with students profoundly meaningful and that I wanted his job,” he said.
Pieraccini is currently teaching biology at Great Hearts Anthem Preparatory Academy in Phoenix, Arizona.
“I have found that my students often teach me as much as I teach them,” he said.
Next year, he will serve as the school’s Dean of Students while continuing to teach biology classes. He is also in the process of completing his master’s degree in the classics at the University of Dallas. Eventually, he hopes to begin a clay target team at Anthem Prep.
“I think my decision to attend Hillsdale was one of the best decisions of my life, if not the best, so far,” Pieraccini said. “The challenges I faced and the friendships I made truly brought out the best of my potential, and I am forever grateful to all who made that blessing possible.”
Doug Goodnough, ’90, is Hillsdale’s director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways.
Published in May 2023