Student Commencement Speaker Surmounted a Rocky Path on His Way to Success

AVON PARK, Fla. – Nov. 21, 2024 – Christopher Peragine has the job of his dreams – he’s a fitness coach training clients in his own gym. However, the journey to success took him along a rocky path. Through his own determination and because of angels along the way, the Sebring resident will earn his Associate in Arts during the College’s Commencement ceremony on Thursday, Dec. 12 at 6 p.m. at the Alan Jay Wildstein Center for the Performing Arts on the SFSC Highlands Campus in Avon Park. In fact, he will be the graduation keynote speaker.

Like many young people, Peragine wanted to be an athlete, perhaps, even an NBA player. However, early in life, he was diagnosed with a genetic condition called Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT). According to the CMTA website, CMT degrades the nerves, so people with CMT suffer lifelong progressive muscle weakness and atrophy of the arms and legs and progressive sensory loss. “It’s something that you have the rest of your life,” Peragine said. “It, typically, gets worse as you get older, so if you don’t start training, it eats away muscle tissue.”

At age five, Peragine had double hip surgery to combat the effects of the disease. “It was a two-year recovery process of therapy,” he said. “I had a body cast from the waist down.”

Multiple doctors told him that he would never walk again. “I couldn’t think of myself going to school in a wheelchair. Within a year after surgery, I was walking. From that time forward, I never wanted that feeling of being taken care of.”

Peragine started working out in his family’s garage. When he was old enough, he got a membership to a gym.

The idea of becoming a fitness coach came to Peragine when he participated in the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program while a student at Lake Placid High School. The AVID program helps students prepare for college. They learn skills, such as note-taking, time management, and organization, and receive support from AVID-trained tutors and peers. “When we were career searching during the AVID program, we were asked to take on assignments to see what we were good at or passionate about,” he said. “For me, one of those things was training clients. I was already training clients in high school for free. Whatever sports I played, I trained my whole team for free. So, it just became natural for me.”

After graduating from high school in 2018, Peragine enrolled as a student at SFSC, taking three or four classes each term. Although he had been a dual-enrolled student at the college during his senior year of high school, he says that it didn’t help him out. “I didn’t really care,” he said. “I had a high school mentality and I paid the price every semester after that to try to raise my GPA.”

When the pandemic hit in 2020, Peragine took a break from classes. In time, he returned to the classroom; however, family issues arose and he had to work three jobs. “I worked at a bar at night and on weekends, at Burger King, and I had a work-study job at the College. If I had classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, for instance, I would just stay at the College and complete my homework between classes. I realized quickly, that working in an office wasn’t for me. Eventually, I became a certified trainer and, financially, did well as a trainer. Later, I became a contractor, working for gyms.”

During his time away from his studies, Peragine met his mentor. “He saw potential in me and that’s when everything kind of opened up,” he said. “I learned business skills, the legal aspects of a business, how to set up a business, and he put me in touch with an accountant.”

Peragine opened his own gym in 2021, when he was living in a client’s garage. He found success early on and, then, a hurricane struck in September 2022, flooding and destroying the facility. Although deep in debt, he picked himself up and opened a second gym later in 2022. That gym, Innovative Fitness Studio, thrives and was recently lauded for excellence in a local newspaper poll. Peragine is completing his associate degree at SFSC, while running two businesses – a gym and an online training app.

But Peragine isn’t done yet. He is the first person in his family to earn a college degree. He plans to continue his education and would like to get a bachelor’s degree in Physical Therapy with a minor in Psychology and continue toward a master’s degree in Physical Therapy.

Peragine’s success came by learning how to find balance in his life. “It’s an understanding that you’re going to have to make sacrifices,” he said. “Create a schedule and routine and stick to it. We’re not talking about a 30-day challenge. Understand that some days, whatever is most important to you, such as family, gets more of the time. I’m 26 years old and I missed out on a lot of things. I missed out on time with my family, on Thanksgiving, on Christmas, my own birthdays, and through that, I learned that that was the price I paid for the stage I’m at. I learned how to find balance through painful lessons and created a routine to help me find balance in life.”