Right now, we have Alex O. No, not Alex Ovechkin. Alex Odom. The senior forward for East Lake High School. Alex and the Eagles are coming off a ROLLER COASTER of a season. They went from flirting with last place to winning the division. They started the season losing seven of their first eight games only to then go nearly two full months without losing a game. “We just started the season horribly. We didn’t have a true head coach for those first months of games, and it showed. We knew we were a talented team. We just needed direction. Our assistant coaches did a great job, but once we got our head coach, we went on a serious run. We got passed division rivals Mitchell and Steinbrenner in the playoffs but fell short to the champs, Seminole. Then we went to States at Hertz Arena and finished as the runner-up in the SAHOF Tier I Championships with a bid for nationals. It was a crazy year. To go from where we were this year to playing for a state title, it’s something I will cherish.”
Fast forward a month or two after states and the situation is entirely different. As the year is winding down for seniors, you must take a minute and realize how lousy it is for these kids to have to miss all the festivities that comes with that final 8 weeks of senior year but Alex has good mind set and is focusing on the bigger picture. “So, we all just found out the other day that schools are closed down for the rest of the year. Parents are being told that the county is working on a solution for graduation and potentially rescheduling some of the fun events that were planned but nothing is definitive right now. Looking ahead to the fall, Alex is going to be heading east on I-4 and taking his talents to Valencia College. An institution yours truly was enrolled in in a not too distant past. “So for my plan. I’m looking at some places to live in Orlando. Around August, I’ll hopefully be moving into student housing or in a place with some of my buddies. I’m going to Valencia to start and then transfer into UCF as soon as I can. At East Lake, I’m in the engineering program and the goal is to continue that path and eventually being a student of UCF’s college of engineering and computer science as an engineering major. I have been leaning towards pursuing a focus in the aerospace engineering. I took an aerospace engineering class last year, in eleventh grade and I really enjoyed it.”
In his spare time right now, Alex is keeping it easy. “Every morning I work out a little bit outside. Maybe mess around on my skateboard. But mainly I’m staying inside finishing up school and playing a ton of video games. Everyone in the world is playing Warzone (Call of Duty) right now. Of course, I’m playing a lot of NHL20 with the boys. We have our own team online. I have had opportunities to go out and do stuff. Some kids tried to still have our Senior Breakfast but for me, right now, it’s just not worth it with everything that’s going on.”
Folks I need to level with you. I do not know what I would do during all of this without video games. Hahaha. If I am not working from my kitchen table, now mega-desk, or checking the mail for the 6th time that day, I am playing video games with my friends too. I enjoyed my zoomcall with Alex. I really did. I think he’s the first spotlight interview I’ve had that took the same exact route as I did out of high school. He’s going to do great things in that area not to mention that is a VERY FUN place to attend college!
