Bye bye Tom

The greatness that is Tom has left the Bay Area for Southern California. His last game was the soccer game on Saturday morning and we already miss him for a myriad of reasons.

For me personally, Tom was this big goof ball, trying to learn English and become a more rounded person. He had his troubles with school, but he was always willing to learn. This year, I started giving him words of the day so he could improve his vocabulary. As long as he works hard, sooner or later he will be fine.

Some of the funniest things that I have ever seen involve Tom. I had him read me the newspaper one time as I drove him to practice. Another memorable instance is during soccer last year, the now no longer here Steve stole the ball from Tom, knocked him down. It didn't matter to Tom Steve was in the 4th grade. The next time Steve had the ball, Tom stole it from Steve and knocked Steve over.

I'm sure we will see Tom again in the near future. We wish him the best of luck. Here are some things that others had to share about him.

What will you miss most about Tom?

Kelvin: His sense of humor and this colorful vocabulary.

Sally: The thing I will miss most about Tom is that since he's my [second] cousin, I can talk to him if I were in any difficult situations and we got to hang out a lot.

Emily C. : I miss the fact that now that Tom is gone, our class seems a lot shorter.

Emily T. : I will miss Tom's made up words the most. How he says "who kez", "I don't has it, I foegot it", and OHOHOH resume is now "ree see mee" HAHAH love that.

Ronnie: I want to first start off by saying that Tom is one of the most interesting characters I have ever met. And although I have a lot of fond memories of Tom, these are a few that I will remember him the most by. I took over as the current 8th grade coach when they were in 6th grade and I remember vividly that day when I walked into Chinese rec. I remember walking upstairs and seeing this tall, lanky kid and my first thought that popped into my head was wow this kid looks exactly like Yao Ming, and if he plays like Yao we will be in great shape. But soon after seeing him drive to the net for a lay-up or take a jump shot I started to think otherwise. After getting to know Tom more I realized what he lacked in basketball skill he made up for with his willingness to learn and to get better. Slowly but surely I started seeing improvements in his rebounding and defense, as well as slight improvements in his post up skills. Tom soon became one of the teams’ go to guys and I firmly believe that without tom this team would not have been able to make 3 straight championships.


What makes Tom so unique?

Michelle: He likes rice and was tall.

Freddy: He was a man of steel but friendly.

Sally: Some things that made Tom different form everyone else was that he was tall, loved rice, and loved India.

Ronnie: What I will miss most about Tom is his great personality. I was always able to look at Tom and crack a few jokes (harmless of course) about him and it will instantly bring a smile to my face. Tom, from what I saw got along great
with everyone and everybody including myself always enjoyed his company. His laid back, jokingly attitude and presence that he brings to practice day in and day out is what sets him apart from everybody else. The team and I will surely miss that the most about him.

Emily T: Tom is just Tom. He has his own character and species. End of story.


What is your favorite Tom story?

Michelle: He called me sometimes and never admitted it even though I knew it was him.

Elliot: When he ate 11 hot dogs.

Kelvin: When he had a sleepover at my house.

Sally: The most memorable story was when Tom & I went on vacation with our families together to Hawaii and Reno.

Emily C.: Last year, Tom served a volleyball over that fence and that volleyball was forever lost.

Derek: When Elliot, Tommy and Tom came over and Tom's feet stank up my room, we sprayed axe on his feet.

Emily T: Well like in 7th grade I had to sit next to him and gosh that was the most -I guess you could say- colorful and entertaining quarter ever.

Ronnie:I don’t exactly have a favorite Tom story but I do remember the time the other coaches and I went to visit the class for their 7th grade science fair. It was lunch time and we were talking to all the other kids and when I looked up across the room I saw tom's face literally buried in his teriyaki rice bowl that he was eating. And I remember him looking up at me for a second, and then went back to eating. I don’t know why but that image has stuck with me since then and I will never forget it.

I wish I could have seen Tom finished out his time here at St. Mary's and graduated the 8th grade with his class but things don't always work out the way you want it to most of the time. It's been my absolute pleasure knowing tom and I am forever grateful that we got to be pretty close, not just in a player/coach relationship but a friendship that I will never forget. and I mean this with the utmost sincerity when I say," Tom, I will miss you and I wish the best of luck in your future endeavors, wherever your life decide to take you and I am positive that we will cross paths again in the future". But for now " see ya later *DUUUUDE*"