It all started on January 4, 2001. Sonia Anderson had a baby boy who she would name Erik Johan. Erik lived in Gloucester, Massachusetts where he was making a lot of friends as he grew up. Erik has loved sports from a very young age, which has shaped him into the man he is today. In 5th grade, Erik moved to Ipswich with his mother, but he didn’t start school in Ipswich until he was in 6th grade, where he attended Ipswich Middle School. Erik made friends very quickly at Ipswich and found himself getting along with everyone.

   Erik is a huge sports fan and follows all the Boston Sports teams. Erik had said that sports “have meant everything to me ever since I was a little kid. I was watching Red Sox and Patriots games since I was two years old, but I first really got into it when I was six or seven”. He has played football, basketball, baseball, indoor winter track, and lacrosse throughout his life. Indoor track is the most recent activity Erik has added to his list; he does the shot put event explicitly. Erik had stopped playing baseball in 8th grade and basketball after his sophomore year as he realized he preferred to watch the sports and wanted to try out new sports in high school. This was when Erik decided to do indoor track and lacrosse. In lacrosse, Erik has big shoes to fill. He is going to be the varsity starting goalie and is replacing the state champion winning goalie Aidan McAdams, who graduated last year. Erik’s favorite sport is by far the good old sport of football. Erik has always loved every part of football, whether it was playing himself, just looking at statistics, or at facts. Anyone can walk up to Erik and ask him about any super bowl, and he could spit out a summary which includes the teams, score, and big plays made in the game. Erik has a true passion for the game and was captain his senior year as a lineman.

   After the 8th grade football season and the beginning of basketball, Erik faced one of, if not the biggest challenge of his life. Erik’s house had caught on fire and burned down. “It caught us by the absolute most surprise,” Erik said while describing the event. He was devastated as anyone would be. The very next day, Erik and his family met with his friends and basketball team at the Masonic temple in Ipswich. Where people had gotten them clothes and gift cards to help make this experience easier for him and his family. Amy Norris said  “This was a very hard time for everyone who’s close to Erik; I mean how can you hate Erik. My husband lost his father and his two younger brothers in a house fire, so we understand the pain Erik and his family went through, and we wanted to make sure Erik and his family received all the support needed in that tough time.” Fast forward to present day and Erik is still living in Ipswich and is very appreciative for having the people closest to him help out in the way they did and that reflects Erik’s personality. Erik is always one of the first people to help out in any situation and is always very caring towards others while having a good laugh at the same time.

 The last fascinating part about Erik is his insane bias and conservative political standpoint. Erik stands by Trump for nearly all of his decisions and tries to even find ways to justify certain actions Trump has been accused of. But other than that, Erik has grown to become a young man, shaped by his struggles but he also has found his true passion throughout his life which is sports. Erik said “I would play sports if I could”, but Erik is brutally honest with himself and understands that he isn’t equipped with those skills to play at a professional level. He still wants to be involved in sports though, so that’s why his dream job is “…to be a play by play for a professional team, preferably a Boston based team.” His dream life is to be “… married, two dogs, 3 kids (2 boys and 1 girl), 5 rooms, and a nice man cave. I really like Ipswich, but just want to be staying up in North Shore Massachusetts.” Erik plans on joining an ROTC program, completing that and receiving those benefits, then working towards his dream life. Erik has a good plan for the future and only time will tell if his plan goes correctly. Erik may experience bumps in the road, but he has the drive and passion to power through and overcome life’s obstacles and ultimately reach his dream goals.