Q: What kind of activities did you participate in when you were 17? A: “I played football, I wrestled, soccer, but my main focus was football.” Q: What kind of things would you do in your free time? A: “Oh boy, I didn’t really have any free time. I got up, went to school every morning at about 5:30 and hit the pools, hit the shower, go to classes, lift weights after school then I would go to work, get home at about 10:30. Then I would do it all again.” Q: What was your favorite memory from school? A: “Um, that would probably have to do with being in football; football kind of helped my focus because I went through some pretty tough things. I think the greatest memory with that, would be being named to the East-West All-Star football team. That was probably the best memory because I got to play with some of the best kids in Ohio; a couple are in the NFL.” Q: What was your favorite class? A: “My favorite class was probably my AP U.S. History class.” Q: If you could go back what would you change? A: “Oh goodness, honestly probably stay away from girls. They got me in a lot of trouble in school.” Q: What crowd would you hang out with? Were there cliques? A: “Oh yeah, there were cliques. I hung out with, I guess you would refer to them as jocks. Everyone on the football team, wrestling team; we just all hung together.” Q: How are things different now from when you were 17? A: “Mostly we [hand-wrote] notes [and] news got around a lot slower. That’s probably the most different from school. You know, if something happened in school with a student typically the only immediate circle knew, but the way things are now if something comes to the office the kids find out before me, mostly because of the technology that is available. Q: Where did you guys mostly hang out? A: “Well, most of the time we were in the weight room together. On the weekends, we would go to each other’s houses; you know, a lot of driving around.” Q: When you were 17, did you have a job? A: “I did, I worked at the ice rink. I got to drive a zamboni; it was awesome.” Q: Did you have a car? A: “Oh man, my first car was a Chevy Cavalier Station Wagon, that was handed down to me. Thank God I only had that one for a couple of months, and then I had a Ford Escort.” Q: How much was gas to fill it up? A: “Wow… it was only a dollar or a $1.20.” Q: What kind of music did you listen to? A: “Um, I went through a lot of different music through high school — country music, probably; I listened to some rap in ninth grade, which was interesting. Then I started listening to Dave Matthews and Pearl Jam.” Q: What was school like for you? A: “Very social; I didn’t really focus on my academics. To be honest with you, I can’t ever really remember doing my homework in high school. Like people always remember going home and studying, and I don’t think I did. I cared more about sports than school.” Q: What do you think is different for 17-year-olds now? A: “Oh wow, I mean it wasn’t that long ago; it was in the late 90’s. You know, competition for jobs and everything was kind of more local. Now it’s even more important to go to college and to get a post-secondary education. And that’s because you’re not competing locally or regionally anymore, now its more like you’re competing against everything. Q: How would you describe your personality at the age of 17? A: I was a jerk. Probably self-absorbed, cocky. You see those movies, the ones where they focus on teens, the jock is usually the stereotypical blockhead and I guess that was me.