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 we still grew up together. ” At this moment, I felt really awkward and didn’t know if it was safe to continue the interview but, he seemed perfectly fine so I continued on as if nothing happened. Alex told me his first action figures were Star Trek action figures.
When he told me this, I laughed because I was thinking he was going to say “The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. ”, but instead he said Star Trek. He told me Star Trek was the hottest thing out back in his day. I told him that I thought Star Trek was even for old people when he was little. The cast of Star Trek was even his favorite actors and actresses, the people that play in the Star Trek movies where his favorite movie stars and the Star Trek books were of course his favorite books, which wasn’t a coincidence. Guess who his favorite hero was.
Superman, yes superman was his favorite hero. I gave him the most awkward look I could give as a facial expression. He noticed my expression and bust out laughing. When Alex was about 10, his mom had 10 cats all living in the house along with his sister and stepdad. He told me no matter where he went there was a cat somewhere. He said he didn’t mind but then it got ridiculous when the female cats started to get pregnant. So slowly but surely they had to get rid of them even though she didn’t want too. It was hard for him to go from 10 cats back to 2.
He told me he found out Santa Claus wasn’t real in school just how 80% of every other child finds out. Growing up, Alex told me he wanted to be a teacher. I take it he was determined because as far as I can see, he accomplished his goal of becoming a teacher. Since he was one of the few kids that wanted to be something, as a teenager growing up, he wasn’t very popular. His fellow classmates knew who he was but other upper and underclassmen didn’t know who he was. He was just known in his grade. He said, “I didn’t care if I was popular or not.
I didn’t care if everyone saw me as a nerd. I knew all I had to do is put up with them for a few years and I would never have to deal with them again. ” It’s funny because that was my same attitude when I was in high school. Now Alex is older, wiser, and happier now that he’s an adult now. I asked him what the happiest day of his life was. He looked at me and said, “My marriage of course. I mean what else it would be. ” He’s married to his wife, Sarah. He met her in school and she was his high school sweetheart ever since his freshman year of high school.
They got married 6 years later after they got out of school and he was half way done with college. He knew then and there that he wanted to be with Sarah for the rest of his life. They don’t have any kids and at the looks of it, they aren’t going to have any neither. I asked Alex what he disliked most about himself. He told me he wouldn’t change anything about himself. He loves his life and he doesn’t regret anything he has done that lead him to this day. He’s mostly proud of being able to become someone that’s makes a difference in someone’s life.
I asked Alex how he would like to be remembered. He told me he doesn’t care how he’s remembered. He said, “All that matters is that my loving wife remembers me as the husband that loved her to death. As long as I made her life worth living for and made everyday of her life happy, then my job is done. ” The point of this interview was to get a look at Alex Pekker’s childhood to see how he became the man he is today. His story inspired me to be the best I could be. I have even more respect for my coach and a lot of people can learn a lot from this man.
