As a student at OA you might see certain people in the halls and think, “I have no idea who that is or what their name is.” Jay Schindler is one of those kids. You have probably seen him often walking through the halls with his hood on, AirPods in and head down as he makes his way to his next class. As students we see people like this everyday but we never stop to question who they are. What makes OA Senior Jay Schindler different?
At an unusually young age, Jay was quickly drawn to sports like archery and found an appreciation for basketball. “I started playing basketball when I was four years old,” Jay explained. “Once I learned how to walk I always had some type of ball in my hand.” His mom noticed Jay’s interest in sports and once old enough allowed him to play multiple sports. Jay played in four major sports: basketball, baseball, soccer, and football. Jay enjoyed these sports and his mom enjoyed watching him play.
In elementary school Jay played basketball, soccer, baseball and football. He was a four sport athlete by the age of seven. But as Jay got older, his interests started to shift. When Jay hit middle school he stopped playing soccer and just after his first year in the middle school he quit football. As an 8th grader, Jay had cut the number of sports he played in half. Jay decided he wanted to devote more time to basketball and baseball. “Honestly I didn’t really find it fun anymore so I stopped playing football and soccer,” Jay said. Whether or not he would have fun was the major factor in his decision making.
When Jay wasn’t spending his time playing sports he liked to spend time with his friends. Although a lot of times hanging with friends meant playing sports, this was a way to distract himself from some of the intense competitive sports he played. Jay and his friends would spend time riding bikes like ebike with throttle around the neighborhood, playing video games and sometimes getting a ride from someone’s parents to the movies. If you or a loved one gets injured in an accident while biking, a Boston, MA bicycle accident attorney should be able to help you file a claim.
Sports were important to Jay but his friends also meant a lot. Jay made friends easily throughout his early career as a student and by the time he hit middle school a strong friend group started to form, and this friend group only grew and became stronger.
As Jay hit high school, his favorite sport, basketball, became something he only played after school or on weekends with his friends. Sports like baseball that were once a huge part of his life were now extinct. As a junior Jay no longer played the sports he grew up playing. To keep active he joined the cross country team, along with six other of his closest friends. “I joined cross country so that I can at least keep doing something, and a lot of my friends were doing it so I thought it could be fun,” Jay said.
As sports were now mostly out of Jay’s life, friends became his major source of fun and enjoyment. The friend group Jay helped create was now a strong twelve people deep. What once started at three people was now a dozen. With a group this large it is often hard for them to all hang out together but some people in the group are better at organizing than others and they help keep everyone together.
Jay loved sports, he loved hanging out with friends but so does everyone; what makes Jay different? Jay is a laid back kid but he has dreams and desires. Jay plans on going to college at Roger Williams University where he will study some sort of science. He wants to graduate but also something interesting about Jay is that he wants to travel. Jay has never left the United States, but he wants to. Jay was asked if there were any opportunities he wanted to explore, his response was surprising, “Travel internationally,” Jay said. “I want to travel to Africa because they have cool animals,” Jay continued.
Jay is a much more interesting person than you might believe. He likes sports and animals and he even wants to travel. Everyone has something about them that makes them different. These differences are important to us and it’s what makes us all special in our own way. Oliver Ames is home to many different people, they all have their own stories but only some are ever told.