Jackson Reid:
Peninsula High School
At just 18 years of age, Peninsula High School senior Jackson Reid has learned what it takes to overcome challenges and succeed. As a member of the football and lacrosse teams, Jackson experienced a major setback his junior year when he suffered two compression fractures in his thoracic spine.
“I played over six weeks with the injury before going to the doctor for X-rays,” said Jackson, whose doctor told him not to play again. “But I went to a spine specialist and was cleared to play. My senior year I made varsity and was a starter both ways and played every game from week one to the state quarterfinals where we lost to Meadowdale,” said Jackson of his football season.
Jackson also received All-League honors this year for both middle linebacker and tight end. He also received the Coaches’ Award from the coaching staff.
“[In lacrosse], I’m currently ranked fourth in the state for total points averaging 7.71 points per game,” said Jackson.
But his success is not just on the football and lacrosse fields. Jackson received an APA academic excellence award in AP psychology and was selected as a finalist for the National Football Foundation Scholarship banquet this year. He is ranked 17th in his class of 330, has a 3.941 GPA, has taken seven AP classes, received a score of 1300 on the SAT and “4s” on all AP tests he has taken.
As he looks ahead to his future, Jackson will attend the University of Washington in the fall where he plans to study biology or pre-med and become a bio-technician. “I love learning about the human genome and DNA,” said Jackson about his career interest.
He will also pursue his athletic passion and join the club lacrosse team.
“I love the physicality of football, and I enjoy the family feeling in the locker room, but I love lacrosse for its finesse. You don’t have to be the biggest guy or fastest guy to be good at lacrosse, and I’ve always loved that. Lacrosse has a relaxed feeling, and it’s about being cool, calm and relaxed even in the most stressful of situations,” said Jackson.
Looking back on his days playing lacrosse and football, Jackson said the best life lesson he has learned was mental toughness.
“I owe it to coaches Filkins and Winquist. They pushed me into taking a zero-hour class [before school],” said Jackson. “They always held me accountable into coming to class on time and coming to all my classes and being present regardless of what happened the night before, just as I would for practice.”