By: Solomon Larson
The Howard high community is full of amazing people with remarkable backgrounds, but none stood out to me as much as the story of my own father. As a soldier in the army, a government employee, and all awhile raising six kids, he can do it all. Although he may seem rare or uncommon, he began his life just like anyone else-In high school.
My father, Jeff Larson, grew up in the city of Chicago, Illinois. He had a common family, consisting of a mother, father, and two siblings; a brother and a sister. His family was never in the best financial situation, but they made the best of what they had. When he began high school, his life took a big turn due to the divorce of his parents. The divorce lead to even worse financial problems for both parents, and forced the family to move to a place just outside of Chicago. Here, he enrolled into Oak-park river forest high school, a huge school with over five thousand students enrolled at the time. He knew very few people at the new school, and decided to try out for the high school football team. Although he was one of the smallest kids at the tryout, he still made the team, and here he began his high school passion for football. He went on to play football at oak park for his freshman and sophomore season. Then, out of the blue, his mother told him that they were moving to a small town in Wisconsin called Eau-Claire in the middle of his sophomore year. The area consisted of farmland and very few people. He finished his school year at Eau-Claire Memorial high school and began his junior year, where he also played football, but only for three weeks. Then, once again, he had to move away, this time to a place called Wheaton in Illinois. At this school, he joined the football team late, and they went on to make a deep playoff run, but lost a close game. He finished junior year and senior year all up until the last six weeks of school, where he moved for the seventh time in the four years of his high school career, back to oak park river forest high school where he graduated in the year of 1985. Throughout the many changes, moves, and challenges he faced in his high school years, one thing stayed consistent- Football. It is the one thing that kept his mind of of the stress of school work, family issues, and everything else that he had to deal with everyday.
Solomon's Connection:
I have related in many ways to my father’s past high school experience. Although I have been lucky enough to not have to experience my parents going through a divorce, or having to move seven times and to three different high schools, I do hold some similarities between me and him. Just as my father used football as a way to escape reality and the world around him, i as well use football in order to forget about my stress and worries of the real world. Just like he used football in order to avoid the harsh reality of his family, i use it to take a break from my packed household of eight people. Through football, both me and my father are able to vent out our emotions through the sport. Through football, we were able to find something that we are both passionate about, and that we love to do everyday until we play our last game.
