Last year, I was contacted by my high school to gauge interest if I would be interested in coming back and speaking to the current students about my transition from high school to university and eventually to professional life. My limited flexibility in my schedule due to just starting a new job didn’t allow me to make the trip last year but I was finally able to do it earlier last week when my scheduled trip home fit both of our schedules.

Let me explain my high school first. The Middlesex County Academy for Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies was established in 2000 and I was part of the 2nd class to enter the institution. Each year, the school only accepts 40 students from the entire county and stops replacing them if they leave after sophomore year. I ended up graduating with only 32 students but just from that select group alone we have people working internationally, have had some enrolled in Ivy League schools, a couple going for their PHDs and not to mention the various types of fields in the industry we have managed to penetrate. Let me also say I was fortunate to have Christine volunteer to come speak with me as well as it provided an excellent balance for two people who started in the same place and have gone on to take completely opposite routes since and still be enjoying what they do professionally.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the talk as I didn’t know too many of them beforehand since we have been out of that building for almost 6 years now but it continued to be more productive as the day progressed. The seniors seemed far more reserved compared to the barrage of questions and feedback we received from the juniors afterwards but they did come back with requests to talk to alums who had taken certain paths and to the best of our abilities, we have put all in touch with someone within a matter of days.

Since the talk, we have started to take the first concrete steps towards founding an Academy Alumni Foundation which I think will go a long way in connecting not only the alumni with each other but also serve as a strong foundation for the current students looking to take the next step in their educational or professional careers. I have already heard from excited alumni who are asking about how they can help and hopefully this type of activity still exists once the association is up and running – which shouldn’t be too far into the future (barring any setbacks).

For those that went to my high school and have not yet filled out the Alumni information form, please do so here. In under a week now, we have been able to get nearly 50% of all graduates already spanning over six years and hopefully that trend continues so we can officially launch in the near future.

Edit: Thanks to “Shot Shanker” for giving the update on the goals on either side of halftime. If anyone wants to fill me in on that or any other detail I might have left out… feel free to leave a comment or contact me any other way.

On the warmest 40 degree morning you will ever experience, the Alumni and Academy soccer teams faced off for the eighth time in four years. It was not as easy as one might have expected giving the Alumni owned a 6-1 record against the current Academy team. Keeping true to Academy form, the 11:00 scheduled game time promptly started at 11:30 after some roster and starting position difficulties.

The game was only a matter of minutes old, when the Academy would get the first strike. Following an Alumni turnover on the opening possession, Academy calmly moved the ball down the field into attacking territory when Sami Abdisubhan fed the ball to Maksim Goryunov who brought it up on the near-side flank loosely marked. Max would eventually cross the ball into the box bypassing most defenders towards the far corner of the 6-yard box where it was essentially a one-on-on between alum Frank Levering and current Junior Daniel Hillman. The younger one would have his moment as a well timed leap and connecting on a header over Frank’s head inside the near-side post would put the current Academy squad up 1-0.

The lead would not last very long as only a few moments later, Kevin Scala and Chuck Andrejcisk would get the Alumni moving in the right direction. It would be a well timed pass from the former that beat two defenders and allowed to Chuck to take a couple of uncontested touches before drilling the ball in the back of the net to even up the score at 1.

Well it wasn’t going to last forever and a Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies that has been led by Principal Glenn Methner will come to an end later next month. I had unofficially heard about the news a little while back and had it confirmed by people in the school earlier this week. What was disappointing in this whole ordeal was that I had waited to confirm it before approaching him, yet when I asked Mr. Methner whether he was leaving or not, he completely dismissed what I said as an unfounded rumor and even went out of his way to say “they would have to drag me out of here” for me to leave the Academy. It is a shame for an outgoing school principal to still resort to the same old smoke-and-mirror type political approach that some students became accustomed to while in school for their four years of high school.

Regardless of what you thought of him, coming in and being a principal of a school from inception is no easy task. There are growing pains on both the administration side and they exist on the part of the students as well but that is something you learn and adjust with over the years. From what I can tell, Mr. Methner did just that as an overwhelming number of current Academy students, if not all, were saddened to hear the news of his departure. On the other hand, I’m not sure you can state that same case with the older alumni although there seems to be a unanimous concern towards the next principal who comes and what their vision of this school may entail in the future.

As the soccer team now proudly wears apparel that states “Tradition Never Graduates”, you can make a convincing case that the former students never graduate completely from this school. Almost all students try to make a return trip post-graduation and that speaks volume to the sense of community being built in a high school that’s not even a decade old yet. That sense of community has definitely been built on trust, responsibility and accountability. Some of that which seems to be thrown into a little question with the way all this event has unfolded.

Let me preface this paragraph by saying that technically he does not owe anybody, anything given his years of service to this school. However, knowing what Mr. Methner knew, I think it is inexcusable for someone who is well aware of the impact this transition will have to take such a passive approach towards informing the student population and their families. It is a cowardly step to avoid addressing the issue straight on with your students and a blatant attempt to try and dampen any reaction someone may have by releasing the news on the eve of an extended holiday break. From what I have been informed, he is leaving prior to the end of this calendar year and that is quite a letdown to the current senior class which has obviously grown close to him to be abandoned mid-Senior year prior to graduation without much notice.

You hate to end a respectable tenure on such a bitter note but sometimes things just need to be said… and the sooner the better in most situations.

I look forward to seeing him appropriately attend his first Academy Alumni game during his final days and hope that things work out for the best in the future on all ends — especially for The Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies and those that pass through its two glass doors.

[EDIT] A couple of changes noted by Rishi Abuwala. The name of freshman who I couldn’t remember but played well for us along side Dan was Tony. Also, the score at half time was apparently 2-2 and not 3-2 as I stated. The Alumni scored 3 more unanswered goals in the second half.

Here is a game recap for those who could not attend and even for those who were and want a recap of the game. Let me know if I messed up somewhere with a detail or a name and I’ll adjust it.

After what seemed like hundreds of date and time changes, the 7^th Academy Alumni soccer game took place yesterday in the scorching 100 degree weather. As the current Academy students and the alumni started to trickle onto the track field at Thomas Edison Park, you could tell this was going to be a long day as everyone started sweating long before most of us even took the field.

I usually always field some shots before warm-ups from players on both sides which helps me get a sense of the new kids and whose shot I should look out for come game time. A couple of incoming freshmen did well to leave a good mark right away which tells you the future of the Academy has the potential to stay bright.

As game time neared, the Alumni including the seniors (or lone senior – Carlo) from the class of 2009 only had 9 players on our side compared to roughly 15-16 for the current Academy team. We ended up drawing two incoming freshmen who I would have preferred along side their teammates for the upcoming year but definitely gave our team a boost. I don’t accurately remember the second freshman’s name but Dan who played defense right in front of me was very calm and collected in the face of a constant attack from the Academy side which cam early and often. Even in a couple of one-on-one situations, he did well holding his own against the likes of Sami and Alyssa.

There was a decent back and forth start to the game for the first 5-10 minutes as the alumni were getting a little accustomed to playing with the new guys. That playing style eventually led to a very weak loft by Academy towards our goal at a time I wasn’t paying much attention and talking to a current senior about their team. I turned out in what seemed like enough time to see the bouncing loft which was rolling towards the right post and started moving towards ball to collect it. That didn’t turn out to be the case as I thought the ball was going to roll out of bounds on the goal line but happened to trickle just inside the far post. 1-0 Academy.

After hearing about that goal from pretty much everyone on our side, we started moving the ball up back into our offensive third before capitalizing on a loose ball outside the box which tied up the game at 1. Our defense really started to pick up our game following a little bit of a sluggish start. It seemed to be going well until a corner which the Academy did well to put into play rather quickly and not allowing to get settled on the posts for marking. I had turned around to make sure that there was someone on the far post behind me in case the ball went over but by the time I had turned around, the ball was already in the air from the corner and proceeded to get a slight deflection by the defender right in front of me and off my gloves into the goal. 2-1 Academy.

Both sides really buckled down from then on for a good 10 minutes or so including a takeout by me on Max I think which really got me going. I always rely on a couple of those in a game to get into one of those modes where any ball that is coming into the box will be mine. It might have been the heat really starting to take over but we took an unorthodox water break with about 15 minutes left in the first half when it became too apparent that the lack of subs on our side was causing dehydration and a lack of effort.

Following the mini break, we decided to implement some changes. We switched up our stopper (Carlo) and right back (Dan). The switch with the right back and stopper helped us as the lack of experience back there allowed Academy to stay on side on a couple of plays where they would have been definitely offside had our regular squad been present. It stopped the bleeding on the backline and Dan’s nonchalant defensive style limited their possession for the remainder of the first half. I think we might have scored once before the half was over and went into the break tied at 2.

To start the second half, we tried one more change albeit it was only temporary. Our left back (Frank) swapped places with our right midfielder (Vivek) to allow him to make a couple of runs up the right side to spark our offense to start the half. Although the runs didn’t payoff in goals right away it definitely helped us move the ball on both sides a little bit more fluently and the counter pressure we applied seemed to frustrate Academy a little. We had a good stretch of constant ball control and possession and eventually pushed the lead to 5-2 Alumni that was at the hand of 4-unaswered goals by the staunch offensive attack by Ab, Rishi and Varesh. Varesh along with Frank had excellent opportunities to extend the lead even further but each of their headers (both off corners I believe) went just wide and the score remained as is.

The Academy did well to stop the scoring on our part from there on out. They started capitalizing on turnovers and pushing the ball up on both sides of the field. I think the first goal was by Sami where is a simple one on one against me where I held my line instead of coming out and a simple shot to my left and Academy cut the lead down to 5-3. Max, who had been called for several offsides earlier on, continued the patient attack. He held control of the ball just on the 18 yard line with little pressure on him. I thought I had a good enough read on the shot that if I didn’t save it, I could definitely parry it over the cross bar. The shot however, was very well placed in the upper 90 just outside of the reach of my left hand going across my body and the score was now 5-4 Alumni with just 7 minutes to play in the game.

Those last seven minutes seemed to last forever. We tried playing a little keep away to run off as much time as we could but after an errand pass, they had a good clean look coming up my right side followed by my left which they just couldn’t finish off. There were a couple of breakaways where I just broke from my line and told myself that the pressure is on the attacker to tie the game and I’m not going to make it easy for him. Two rather aggressive (or reckless) dives on the ball by me in goal kept the score at the one goal differential before time would run out with Alumni holding onto a 5-4 victory.

I think it has been back to back alumni games now that we have escaped with a one goal victory after what seemed like easy games in the first year or two. I think the key really is experience down in the end where passing is far more important trying to weave through the entire defense on your own to try and equalize the score. That kind of patience is often developed and the sooner is happens, the better it is for the team. Alumni improves its overall record to 6-1 in these games with the next one scheduled for Thanksgiving break as usual.

P.S. Thanks for the father who brought drinks for everyone on the field just as the game expired. I know I that was very much appreciated on a hot and humid day like yesterday with the temperature in the mid-90’s and the head index hitting triple digits.