Every two weeks, NewsCenter 5 presents a high school senior who has taken the lessons of the classroom and applied them to life.

This week's A Plus student is Lexington High School’s Nate Finch. NewsCenter 5's Shiba Russell reported that Nate was born with a condition that's as rare as being struck by lightning, but that the high school senior has been beating the odds ever since.

When Jeanne McDermott delivered her second son Nate in July of 1990, she was shocked to find that he'd been born with Apert's syndrome, a very rare condition characterized by malformations of the skull, face, hands and feet. These odds were one in 100,000, and at the time, his future was just as unpredictable.

“The doctor paused, and he said a lot depends on his personality. And so we held on to that,” said Nate’s mother, Jeanne McDermott. “And he was just a smiley, interested, very extroverted, happy baby. And that made all the difference.”

That was especially true while Nate was enduring numerous corrective surgeries and dealing with the stigma of being different.

“That's pretty much how he's dealt with stares. Like yes, so someone stares. It's an opportunity to smile back,” McDermott added.

Now a senior at Lexington High School, Nate accompanies that smile with action, acting as a peer advisor to fellow students and visiting local hospitals.

“I take my experience and knowledge, and I tell them it’s going to be all right. And it really gives them a sense of empowerment, and yes, I'll get through it,” Nate said.

It's an outlook that has made Nate an effective public speaker as well.

“He's very sincere,” said Guidance Counselor Melissa Buttaro. “And he really speaks from the heart.”

Nate added, “Giving back to the community and just seeing that joy and seeing that smile on their face is what it's all about.”

He’s a great student too.

“It’s mostly been high B's [and] A's. But that's accomplished through my hard work [and] my determination,” Nate related.

Buttaro added, “That's who he is. That's what he does. He goes out. He has his surgery and comes back to school and wants to get back to work.”

“It sounds just simple to say it, but I'm proud he's alive,” McDermott said. “I'm just proud of him.”