People decked out in face paint. Cheers filling the night air. Stands fully crowded with high school students and eager parents. As the football team enters Davis Field for the 2023 Homecoming Game, senior Oli Roman runs alongside the players while donning his green Harker football jersey, motivated by the excitement in the bleachers. The players get settled into position, ready to start at any moment. Before the game begins, Oli knows that his hard work in training has finally led up to this moment, his first football game.

Oli grew an interest in football through watching videos with his family and trying out fantasy football, eventually joining the football team in junior year. Although he started training later than some of his teammates, Oli cherishes the close relationships he has formed with each member of the team, both outside and inside the field.   

“It’s such a small team where everybody knows each other well,” Oli said. “And at the end of the day, regardless of the outcome, we still do activities together. We still bond as a group and we’re still this tight knit group that’s enjoyable to be around.” 

Although there are many difficulties of playing with only 12 players on the team, Oli adjusts his role in football based on the situation, playing multiple positions including offensive lineman and inside linebacker. Since many other schools have a significant advantage in their larger team size, it’s more challenging for the football team to have full stamina for the entirety of the game. 

“Everybody plays regardless of grade or ability,” Oli said. “There are mistakes that we make out of inexperience. We have very few subs and everybody gets really tired quickly, especially as you go into the third and fourth quarter. We’ll get better as the season goes on as we build endurance from dealing with these circumstances.” 

Oli also applies his mentality in football to swimming, another sport he enjoys. He started swimming lessons from a very early age and swam in competitions beginning from third grade and continuing through high school. Oli understands that training swim competitively can yield minor progress during times that are busier, with the sport requiring hours of practice for small improvements in speed. 

“Swimming is a mental battle more than anything,” Oli said. “There are times, especially in 9th and 10th grade, I was stuck in a plateau where times hover in the same area. It’s hard because when you’re growing up and as you’re getting faster, you’re used to having faster times every meet and once you hit high school, it stops being that way. To keep practicing, going at it day by day to eventually get those results later on is hard.”

Oli enjoys the camaraderie of the swimming environment and training with old teammates. For Oli, the community allows him to practice with those he is familiar with, forging close bonds within the team. 

“For swimming, a lot of the people who I met, even before I came to Harker and even then the people who I’ve known since middle school are still the ones that I swim alongside,” Oli said. “It’s very nice in the sense that I’ve known these people for so long and we know each other so well. It’s hard to not have a more enjoyable practice for swimming.” 

One of those people is close friend senior Jeffery Zhang, who first met Oli in jazz band in sixth grade, with the two bonding over a class trip. He appreciates Oli’s positive personality and his dependability. 

“In sixth grade we were playing cards,” Jeffery said. “We got really close after that because we were in the same bunker situation. He’s a very loud person, but in a good way. He talks when there’s space to talk. He’s a funny guy. He’s a dependable guy too if I have questions.” 

Even though Oli does enjoy multiple sports, he also prioritizes helping students with academics. In sophomore year, after hearing from the principal of his former elementary school about students struggling to keep up with the curriculum, Oli felt the need to step up and help out. Soon, he began teaching math to fourth and fifth grade students there. Oli recognizes the significance for his purpose of teaching and feels enthusiastic when students can grasp the concepts taught. 

“The most rewarding part of teaching is seeing students who actually care,” Oli said. “The school and I will never force anybody to take it on or to accept being tutored. But every student has to sign up and agree to do it willingly along with every parent. So when I go in there and when I teach, seeing students be able to do the worksheets, going from needing my help on every problem to flying through the worksheets on their own is one of the biggest rewards.”

Oli’s efforts to help those in need are also seen by his peers and friends. Close friend senior Oskar Baumgarte attests to Oli’s reliability, whether in sports or in their friend group. Through their similar hobbies, they grew closer through practices and time spent with their friend group.

“I met Oli when I was young,” Oskar said. “I played water polo with him for a long time, since elementary school, and we also bonded a lot over our aquatic sports. Most of it was in the pool talking to each other. He’d always keep us in check and out of trouble.”

In his academic pursuits like teaching and classes, Oli brings positive energy in an educational environment. Chemistry teacher Andrew Irvine, who taught Oli in his sophomore and senior year, appreciates his upbeat attitude in class and genuine interest in chemistry.  

“We both have high energy engagement with the world around us,” Irvine said. “Oli has energy but he has the situational awareness to understand usually what’s going on in the room. I’m really excited that he’s enjoyed chemistry. He has a good sense of humor, but also at the same time, he can step up and work hard when necessary.”

Oli strives to create change in his community by helping his teammates and students. He finds meaning in endeavoring to make a difference, be it through sports or teaching. Although there often is an emphasis on gaining awards and high scores in classes, Oli finds that doing what he truly loves empowers his values in life. 

“Whether it be in football, swimming or teaching kids, I do it because it is fulfilling and it’s nice to do things outside of school,” Oli said. “A lot of the enjoyment in life isn’t only derived from good grades, it’s derived from what we perceive to be achievements, but it’s also what you do outside to enjoy yourself and to make yourself feel like both a better person and to grow as a person as well.”