For this week’s installment of our summer series, we spoke with Parker Goldston, a senior at Purcell High School.
Parker serves as Purcell High School’s Dragon and is also the older brother of previous spotlight student, Carter Goldston.
Parker’s conversation is below. For those interested in featuring your student in the spotlight, please send a picture of the student with a short description stating why they should be featured to purcellregister@gmail.com.
Q: What is one of your favorite memories from cheering in high school?
A: “Interacting with the fans and kiddos…going to State last November. It was exciting and nerve-racking because I had never done it before.”
Q: What is something a coach has told you that you’ve remembered or that has stuck with you?
A: “Never stop working hard enough and pushing yourself.”
Q: Do you have any strange superstitions that you believe in as a cheerleader?
A: “No, not really.”
Q: A lot of people are inspired by another athlete and may kind of structure their game around how that person plays. Do you model your performance around any athlete past or present? If not, what would you say has motivated you to cheer?
A: “No, not right now. But I started doing cheerleading after my dad because he was a mascot at Purcell High School. He started talking to me during my sophomore year telling me to do cheerleading and do mascoting and after that, I decided to do mascoting. I was good at it and then I started doing it more comfortably.”
Q: As the mascot, how do you set yourself apart from the athletes? How does it feel to attract so much attention on game days?
A: “It feels good. It’s a lot easier to not have to say who I am… a lot of people don’t know who I am, too.”
Q: When your team has a bad game or performance, what do you do to take your mind off things or reset from that game? Do you have any hobbies that you lean on away from the field?
A: “I usually just get on my phone and listen to music if we have any really bad games. There’s always another game, and maybe we can win that [next] game.”
Q: Obviously, a lot of students look forward to the summer to get away from school. Do you have any plans or are you doing anything this summer? If so, what are they?
A: “I have cheer camp in sixteen days and then next month I go to Falls Creek with Union Hill Baptist Church.”
Q: Would you like to be a mascot at the college level? If not, what are your plans for the future?
A: “I might go to college but I haven’t thought about it yet, so I’m going to Vo-Tech for cyber security… This will be my first year,” he added.
Q: What advice would you give to your younger self?
A: “Never stop believing in your abilities.”
Q: What’s one of the biggest challenges you run into as the school mascot?
A: “Being autistic.”
Q: How does that affect what you do as a mascot?
A: “It makes it a little bit more enjoyable, being with my closest friends and making memories.”
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