George Martin, “one of MCHS’s busy Pumas”

Photo of George Martin on a mountain (Esmond Hoang / The Puma Prensa)

By Esmond Hoang, Staff Writer

What did you do or are currently doing during your sophomore year? Although sophomore year is treated like the middle child of high school, it is still undeniably important. This is often the first year for AP classes, and for many, it’s the beginning of driving or working.   

But for George Martin, it is just one more step of a much grander plan.

To describe Martin, he is an extroverted sophomore with a packed schedule. His schedule mainly consists of homework and practicing dance at Taylor Dance Ballroom. He has done multiple sports throughout his life, is in a plethora of advanced classes, and is highly talented at ballroom dance.

Even with all of this on his plate, he still makes time to have fun with friends. An activity that he loves is “driving out to nowhere and climbing up a mountain… [to see the] sunrise;” as he hollered, “Oh, that’s peak!” His motivation for hiking is to challenge himself, and reaching the top is the payoff. This philosophy of working hard for a future while being free is carried with him everywhere.

A close friend named Jack Thomasson recalls that one of his favorite memories of Martin was an early morning hike with him during sunrise. Henry Miller, another good friend of his, describes him as “adventurous, always trying to go off the beaten path, a bit of a rebel.” 

Another thing that is important to Martin is his competitive nature. He has ranked highly at multiple dance competitions across the Bay. When he performs, the style of dance is called West Coast Swing and in his own words, “If you think of old-timey swing, like in corny old black and white movies, [West Coast Swing is] like a modern version.” 

Martin practices at Taylor Dance Ballroom, a decades old organization for dance located in Santa Rosa. Taylor Dance holds classes for teens and adults. Martin is employed there to teach adults to dance. 

Martin has the position of captain on his dance team. He reminisced on his experience, saying that "You just yap with people in the halls, a lot of wisdom from older dancers.” Dance isn’t the only thing that George does. Throughout his life, he ran through multiple sports and currently has been focused on badminton. According to Martin, his motivation for joining badminton is that “it’s nice to be on the competition floor, and also the social aspect is really nice.” 

For most sophomore Pumas, this year is a transitional period to much harder classes, but Martin is already taking Calculus 3 at the Santa Rosa Junior College, among other college level classes. By the time the sophomore class graduates, Martin’s goal is to have his associates degree. 

Between juggling work, school, and friends, you might wonder how he even gets through the week. As he puts it “I don’t need more than 6 hours of sleep to thrive in the day.” 

His goal is to go to UCLA and eventually “med school, residence, Scholarship, Med Sci,” all to become an anesthesiologist. This is because an anesthesiologist has a flexible schedule that will allow him time for dance. From there, he wants to live near the Alps so he can climb up and view the sunrise.

Martin is free spirited and according to him, the “Greatest thing to ever happened to me was getting my driver’s license.”