Who is that guy who always wears plaid?

Walking down the halls of Hastings High, one doesn’t get much time to stop and smell the roses- or if they do, they’ll cause a stampede. If you don’t have classes with someone, they’re likely to get lost in the shuffle. This is really unfortunate, because even though Hastings High may seem like a boring place to be, we have some intriguing characters who just might be getting passed by. Which brings us to the man, the mystery, the all important question-who is Dustin Warren?
Alright, let’s get the basics down. He’s 17 years of age, a Hastings high senior, on the cross country team, and bears a striking resemblance to Peter Parker off the new spiderman movie. But beyond that, what’s this plaid loving fellow all about?
While most of us can boast being born an’ raised in our great old state of Nebraska, Dustin’s beginnings were not only out of state, but out of country!
“Well, I was born on a military base in Japan,” Warren said.
His dad, a military officer had been stationed there at the time, so Dustin got to spend his early years being surrounded by things a lot more exciting than corn fields and cows. He lived there until he was a toddler, then moved to Texas. Everything was bigger and better there, but they didn’t stick around long, and ended up moving to the Kingdom of Bahrain, a tiny island country off the coast of Saudi Arabia.
“I was about eight or nine when I lived in Bahrain- the thing I remember most was it being too hot, because the whole island is a desert!” said Warren.
He didn’t have to endure the heat too long, because the Warrens headed back to the United States after a while and ended up right here in Hastings. Dustin is a former Longfellow Leopard, and lived here to be an HMS Panther (back in the good old days before they became Tigers too!), and spend two years at Hastings High.
“After that I moved to Pennsylvania for a year- but according to the Cross Country team, that didn’t happen!” said Warren.
Now he’s returned to Hastings for his senior year. What’s he looking forward to most this final year of school?
“Graduating! I have the end in mind!” Warren said with a grin.
He’ll also be keeping busy this year, running with the Cross Country team this fall, being on the swim team this winter, and making music down in the choral end of the building. He also mentioned he’ll be up to various “shenanigans”, so senior pranks are a possibility. As for the future, Dustin aims to be an architect. He’s enrolled in an architecture class here and someday hopes to make it into a career.
If he ended up becoming a billionaire off the deal, Dustin has plans for what he would do with his dough.
“Well, first I would definitely build my mom her dream house. Then I think I would give a lot of it out to charity- give them whatever they need,” he said.
Though most people don’t know him for the philanthropic side he showed in his interview, what they do recognize is his signature plaid look. He owns multiple plaid shirts and wears them on a regular basis. There’s not really a specific reason, he said, but it is a little bit celebrity inspired.
“I just thought I looked good in it! One of my favorite show is Home Improvement and the main character always wore it,” he said of the style.
Aspiring architect, cross country runner and world traveler, Dustin Warren has done it all. He may look like an average kid, but he’s already lived in more places than most teens will go in a lifetime. Still, he counts Hastings as one of his favorite places.
“If I could wake up anywhere tomorrow, it’d be Hastings- I know it might not seem quite as amazing as everywhere else but I’m quite alright with living here,” Dustin said.
His words carry a wisdom we can all look to- you can’t always judge a book by its cover. Just like Dustin, maybe we should all take some time to consider a new perspective and smell the roses a little, because after all, we’re living “the good life.”