SEATTLE - Before even stepping foot in a classroom Kristian Patterson was a Fighting Irish through and through.
From a player to a coach and from 14-year-old freshman to the director of admissions, he has come full circle back to where he learned that humility and hard work trumps all.
When Patterson reflects on his choice of high school, he says he "never had a doubt where he was going to go."
He has been a part of O’Dea for almost all his life, going to football games as a kid and having family friends who praised the glory of the Maroon and Gold.
"My parents exposed me to O’Dea from a really young age," says Patterson.
All the way up to the 8th grade Patterson played the big three sports: baseball, basketball, and football. However, he had a clear favorite sport, the last of the three, football. When he finally became a freshman and joined the halls of O'Dea, in 1997, he only ended up playing one sport. But it wasn’t football! For all four years Patterson played on the baseball team.
Giving up his favorite sport was a hard decision. He still loved being on the baseball team but missed being out on the field in pads and a helmet.
"My biggest regret from O’Dea is not playing football."
However, he still liked being on the baseball team, and like many students, Patterson's biggest lessons came from being on the field with his brothers. But like any good team, they struggled. For the first 3 years of his high school career the team didn’t win over half of their games.
"It humbled me to be honest," he says.
The grind finally paid off! After years of hard work, the team was looking better than ever in Patterson's senior year. They were finally able to win over half of their games. Even though it was Patterson’s senior year, this gave the team the work ethic and confidence they needed to turn the team from good to great!
“Humility is a good thing but also having that interior confidence as well,” he states.
Flashing forwards to today, Patterson preaches the most about brotherhood. Using what he learned from his time as a student to help him become one of the hardest working staff in the school. He sets up events for families and kids to come and experience O'Dea like he did. Moreover, he helps lead the baseball team as a coach, teaching the next generation the right way to represent O'Dea. Working hard is a must, and humility is for everyone.
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