Miguel Antonio Reyes, is a quiet genius who seems to go unnoticed most days. He is quiet but when you dig inside of the mind of Miguel Reyes, you find a kid who is just like anyone else. I just met Miguel a few weeks ago but decided to learn all about this mysterious man. After being born in Fort Worth, Texas, Miguel’s family moved to Cincinnati because of his father’s work. Miguel went on to attend Rees E. Price grade school. None of Miguel’s family came to Elder; so he decided to start the tradition in his family. Now his younger brother is a sophomore here and his sister goes to Seton. Now since none of his family came here before him and he went to a grade school not usually affiliated as a feeder school to Elder you have to be wondering what influenced his choice? An eighth grade math teacher at Rees E. Price actually recommended Elder to him. She did all the work to set him up to go here. Now think about it, a teacher tells you about a Catholic high school that costs 9000 dollars a year. Most kids would tell their family and go check it out. Not Miguel, he decided not to shadow, not to attend Open House and just show up on the first day. The only time he came to Elder before the first day was to fill out some papers in the Alumni office. Now even I who had been to many sporting events, shadowed and went to Open House was terrified walking in on that first day three years ago. Miguel came in without knowing anything. On the first day he said he was a little lost, but teachers directed him to his next class. The most surprising thing is that Miguel says “It really wasn’t scary at all.” He is one brave kid to do that and still want to come here. Elder is much different from Rees E. Price but when asked if he would do it again, he said, “No doubt, it is way better than West High.” His favorite moment at Elder was the Colerain pep rally freshman year which is odd considering until the playoff game against Sycamore; he had never been to an Elder sporting event. Miguel is just like any other kid at Elder, after school he goes home and either fires up the old Xbox or goes outside to play soccer with his siblings. He also enjoys watching sports, especially international soccer. When Miguel isn’t doing his favorite activities, he is studying. He has a lot to study; Miguel is in all AP and Honors level classes. He plans on attending or Miami (OH), Ohio State, Rice, UC, or Yale for architecture. Freshman year Miguel really wanted to be involved, so much so that he actually went out for wrestling. I would have loved to have seen 120- pound Miguel walking into wrestling practice. During the first practice he wrestled a 160-pound kid. All he had to say about the practice was, “Got slammed, never went back.” I guess that was a pretty good reason to quit. Miguel has also played soccer and track but currently the only thing he does is run with Polar Panthers. Until November 3, Miguel had never experienced a cheering section at Elder. It took a lot of convincing just to get him there but he said his experience at The Pit was “Great, way better than I was expecting.” At the game he seemed a little lost during some of the cheers but still liked it. His favorite moment of the game was at the end storming the field. He now wants to give basketball games a chance to see what they are like. Miguel has one of the best stories I have ever heard at Elder. I found out that he is completely different from the kid I saw in the hallway every day. It really taught me that you should not judge people from afar, take the time to get to know them and underneath could be the next great story or even a new friend.