Profile Essay

I first met Alex Pekker a few years back while in high school. He was a teacher at my school. I didn’t get to know him until I went out for the bowling and tennis team and he turned out to be the coach for both teams. I looked up to him and enjoyed playing on his teams. So I decided to interview him so I could learn more about his childhood and how he grew up. Alex Pekker told me his earliest childhood memory was when he was in daycare. He told me it was snack time and they had bagels and cream cheese. As soon as he got his snack, his mom walked into the daycare to pick him up to go home. He said, “I was so mad I wanted to cry.” I thought it was strange that he didn’t just take the bagel home with him but I just left it alone. Alex grew up with his mom Tia and stepdad Tony. His dad, David, left when he was 2-years-old, but he was never a dead beat. His dad worked 2jobs which was 2nd and 3rd shift but, always found a way to see his first born. His mom could never keep a job. His stepdad worked at RadioShack. They were always moving. They never stayed in a house for over a year. Since his dad was always there for him through thick and thin, he looked up to him as a role model. The happiest day of Alex’s childhood was when he received so many N64 games for his Nintendo 64. He said, “When I saw my games, I almost blacked out and died.” I couldn’t help but laugh at his statement. The saddest day of his childhood was when he was in preschool and his class would count up to the 100th day of school. On the 100th day, they were supposed to have a party. Well on the day of the party, his mom didn’t let him go to school and in stead he stayed at his great grandmother’s house, which in fact was his least favorite place to be. His first experience with death is finding out that his cousin passed away. Alex said, “I didn’t really know what I felt or how to feel. I really didn’t have a close relationship with my cousin and even though he was older than me, I feel as if