By Benjamin Dykstra, Mason Boeskool, and Sarah Brink
For many athletes, sports are the main focus of their lives. However, for Evan Nonthaweth, that is not the story.
Evan originally joined the football team for exercise and conditioning and to be with his friends. He has played football for six years, yet he doesn’t consider himself a “football person.” Evan credited football as an amazing opportunity that has allowed him to grow not just physically but also mentally.
“I gained a lot more confidence than I’ve had for the past years, and I made friends with a lot of different people I never thought I’d actually be able to communicate with on a daily basis”, Evan explained during our interview.
Evan’s life, however, is much more than Football. He has many talents and personal interests, which he elaborated on during our interview.
Evan is known for his drawing capabilities, creating many art pieces that leave his audience in amazement.
“I tend to doodle a lot, and I especially enjoy my art classes”, said Evan “I was pretty good friends with Mrs. Rielly, I think she encouraged my talent the most, she always liked it even if I didn’t like it as much.”
Evan created a charcoal drawing of a character from a series that he enjoys during his Sophomore year, which ended up being one of his favorite and proudest projects that he has worked on throughout high school.
Evan also enjoys Transformers, a popular media franchise that spans many genres, including movies, TV shows, and comic books.
“My favorite transformer is Star Saber. He’s not a very well-known character, but he’s from a different continuity within the Transformers Series. Me and my brother watched the show he originated from because my dad has a bunch of old DVD box sets with the old cartoon series on them, which were actually my first exposure to the Transformers series”, Evan explained.
Evan owns a Mitsubishi Lancer, which he values as it was given to him by his brother. His brother drove the car throughout high school and gave it to Evan after graduating.
The symbol on the back of Evan’s car is a Decepticon logo, representing the Transformers franchise’s main antagonists.
Evan argues, “Though they are the bad guys in the series, can’t lie it looks sick on a black exterior.”
Evan participates in athletics outside of football as well. One of his main athletic hobbies outside of football is Taekwondo.
He trains in Taekwondo at Championship Martial Arts in Holland.
“[Taekwondo has] taught me a lot throughout my training. It teaches you discipline and respect, but of course, has taught me the techniques I can’t really show off.”
Evan recently earned his third-degree black belt at the Civic Center on November 9th where he performed to advance his rank.
Evan is pictured on the far left in the front row.
As Evan looks to the future, he is currently unsure of what he wants to do, especially career-wise.
While Evan loves drawing, he admits that an art career is very difficult to become successful in, yet wouldn’t mind pursuing his passion for art as a side job for fun.
“I’ve been told by Mr. Koops that my grade has reflected the potential I have, saying I can major in something big!”, Evan mentioned during our interview.
Evan is confident in his abilities and hopes that he can figure out what he wants to pursue later in his junior year and throughout his senior year.