Senior Spotlight: Andrew Golden
Happy Thursday Family
On this installment, we have Newsome high school senior, Andrew Golden.
Born and raised in Tampa, FL
Andrew has a unique story about how he started learning how to skate at six years old. "When I started out, coincidentally it was the same time my dad did an adult learn to play. So, hockey became something the two of us could do together which is something looking back at it that was really cool and something that I will always cherish."
At home or in the classroom for school, Andrew has no problem with excelling and has big plans for next year. “I like school. I’m an A/B student. I’ve got a real passion for the sciences and American history. I’m looking to attend college in the New England area. My dad is from there. I like New England and that about half of my family lives up there so, it would be nice to be up there. The dream would be the University of Maine but I’m also looking at FGCU, UCF, and FSU. I’ll look to continue my passion for forensic sciences when it comes time to declare a major and looking further, I hope to find myself in a lab setting for a career. Grad-school is a possibility as well, but I’ll explore those options when the time comes.”
As for the extra curriculars, Andrew is a bit of a triple threat. He’s an academic, athlete, and a musician. “I play music, not through the school but I am in chorus this year. I have been playing guitar for a while and I go to this program at the Straz Center. I play with groups of other people that play various instruments and you just get together and play basically as a band basically for a few weeks and then perform the songs at a concert. So, I’ve played guitar for that and I’ve also sung for that and I’m learning how to play the bass. I’m currently playing the bass for that program.
We have a senior spotlight first here, folks. Andrew is a referee for the Central Florida Ice Hockey Officials Association and to jog your memory a bit, Andrew was the first ever weekly award winner for the Check Yourself campaign which now makes complete sense. “I believe being an official made it easier to do what I did. It helped me to understand a referee’s point of view. When I’m able to see what a referee sees it makes it easier for me to accept calls that may be called on me or against my team or something like that. Regarding what I did, I legitimately didn’t mean to hit who it was from behind, I don’t think that part of it had much to do with being a ref myself. But being a ref has really helped. So far, I’ve only worked squirt and bantam games. I’ve done one U16 game as well. I’m hoping to continue doing it after high school. I enjoy it.”
Andrew was a fun interview. We kind of got lost talking about New England and the Red Sox. It’s been a tough one to swallow with the losses of Mookie Betts and David Price but we both agree the team is in good hands and look forward to watching the upcoming season when sports resume in world.
