JACO B A D UA M A ’ 07
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LEARNING THE BALANCE OF WORK, LIFE, AND SPORT: JACOB ADUAMA ’07 From an interview by Bob Little, Director of Athletics
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f Park had an Athletics Hall of Fame, Jacob would surely be part of it. He is among the Park athletes who have gone on to play sports at the Division 1 level in college, and continues to play soccer semi-professionally. But while his athletics accomplishments are extraordinary, he also exemplifies the values underscoring Park’s mission to cultivate the “whole child”: well-rounded students who understand who they are, who discover their passions, find their voice, and combine these experiences to make thoughtful, well-informed choices.
A 2007 Park graduate who attended Park from Grade 1 through Grade 9, Jacob was recognized at his Park graduation for his unique contributions to the community: While you are a multi-talented student and athlete, it is the strength of your character that has defined your very special place here. Through your dignity and your quiet intensity, you have inspired others. Of particular note, in small and often unseen ways, you have been a caretaker and protector of younger students throughout the school. In your words and your actions, you consistently have demonstrated that pride in oneself is at the core of respect for others. Simply by sharing your strong sense of self, you have deepened and dignified the understanding of diversity that is so central to our mission at Park. These days, Jacob lives in Gothenberg, Sweden, where he is group manager at Volvo Autonomous Solutions in charge of the team that conducts in-vehicle testing for Volvo’s self-driving vehicles and machines. He’s been in Sweden for five and a half years now, and when he isn’t working, he plays soccer at the semi-pro level, with three training sessions per week and matches on weekends. The balancing of work, life, and sport is
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THE PARK SCHOOL
important to Jacob, and something he believes he first learned at Park. Thinking back on his Park experience, Jacob says that the fact that he had the ability to play sports competitively at the middle school level, and the opportunity to explore, was significant. “Even if there were three sports I always played, I tried some other ones in between. You really had the flexibility to try different things,” he recalls. And, even though he and his teammates worked hard and played hard, there was also the freedom to have fun. “I think that helped me.” he says, “I played because it was fun, not because I felt I always had to prove something, or be pushed.” While the soccer field, basketball court, and track may have been where Jacob found natural affinity, his Park Physical Education experience taught him all the more. “Everyone had to do it, even if you didn’t want to.” For Jacob, this became a lesson in community building. How might he help get peers who were less interested in an activity excited about joining? “As a group, the P.E. teachers always challenged those who were stronger athletes to help others on the team,” he says. “For me, this meant gaining a greater understanding of team sports. I learned that we were better if I passed to
