By Derrick Smith

There is someone in each of our lives that we look up to that helps us become better people. For some, it could be a celebrity or someone with a lot of influence. For others it could be someone a little closer to home. Jacob Hassler says that the biggest role model in his life is someone that he is familiar with.
“One of my biggest influencers and role models is Carmen Ball,” he stated. “She is a director and actor in our local theater. She is very confident in what she does and always does her best to provide for everyone and help out others whenever she can.”

Jacob is a freshman at Enid High School. He is a member of the school’s Academic Team, which he says is a hard-working group that works well together. 

“I am simply just one part of the team,” he said. “We are all interchangeable and move around to work together in games. We all, as a team, work hard to do our best. We practice weekly to keep ourselves actively thinking and learning for future meets. I keep myself motivated by working hard at whatever I am doing at the time.”

John Crockett, who is the Enid High School Academic Team advisor and coach, says that Hassler is an outstanding member of the team and makes an impact as a freshman.

“Jacob is one of our freshman standouts,” Crockett said. “He has played on the varsity team several times this year and has been our top scorer in some of those games.”

When they are practicing and preparing for competitions, coach Crockett’s team will divide up and pit the underclassmen against the upperclassmen. Jacob knows the competition is tough but can also be rewarding.

“When the upperclassmen take on the underclassmen, it is not easy,” he said. “But when we are able to beat them and get the win, it is a great feeling because they are really good.”

Along with being a member of the academic team, Jacob is also a member of the local community theater as well as the local taekwondo studio.