Alex Compton is someone who I’m proud to call friend. He is a 12-year-old goaltender from Summerside, PEI and has been stricken with juvenile arthritis since he was a toddler; in fact he has only been pain free for three months of his young life. He takes chemotherapy and other medications every week. Alex is no ordinary human being, he lives his life with a smile, doesn’t complain and is well known for his positive attitude and for being a fierce competitor. He consistently plays and lives through the pain of everyday living. He is my hero and someone I look up to and gain strength from. I sometimes hang out with Alex and his family hoping that “The Good Stuff” that is made of will rub off on me.
When Alex was 6 years old, he and his Mom were driving back from the Sick Children’s Hospital in Halifax when he turned to his Mom and said, “Mom, what can we do to help other kids like me?” They kicked some ideas around and decided to raise 10,000.00 dollars for Juvenile Arthritis before Alex graduated from Grade Six. The Dream was Big, worthwhile, measurable, and involved helping others, all solid components of goal setting.
They returned home and went to work to realize his dream by having penny races with his brother’s class, collecting bottles and a very young Alex spoke at school assemblies. He painted his hair green to challenge his school mates to get involved. He and his Gram sold used books. He would come home from school and find pennies on the doorstep. He did anything he could to see his Dream come true.
“Alexander the Great” graduated from Grade Six in the spring of 2013 and presented a cheque of ten thousand and eleven dollars and thirty-six cents to the Juvenile Arthritis Society. He was awarded a Lieutenant Governor’s Award and proved once again that size and age have little to do with great accomplishments. How Big our Dreams are and what’s inside of us is what really matters. Alex Compton just doesn’t know how to Quit.
We live at a time when it is easy to quit; we see it all around us. Quit on marriages, quit jobs when the going gets rough, quit sports teams when we have to sit a shift, or we don’t get to play on special teams and quit university when classes are tough. In a world where many run from the very adversity that is there is make us strong, it is refreshing to know that we still have people like PJ, Richard and Alexander the Great; let’s hope that many of us learn and gain from their example; they just don’t know how to quit.
Allan Andrews