Driving home from a concert, Ed Strong is arguing with my mom about whether a traffic camera monitors the intersection where we have stopped. We all saw the sign that warned of a photo enforced light but Ed doesn’t believe it. He urges her to ignore the yellow traffic signal and speed on through. Despite our protest, my mother, a victim of the newly implemented camera system decides to err on the side of caution.

At that point, Ed springs into action. He argues that the city is lying despite the clearly visible camera just behind the red light. My mom makes her counter-argument but Ed is determined. He repeats himself each time more enthusiastically than the last. Finally, my mother begrudgingly concedes. Despite not making a single valid argument, Ed had emerged the victor. Even when Ed Strong is wrong, he’s right.

Ed, a freshmen, is in AP calculus, four levels above the standard freshman math class. In a course containing mostly juniors and seniors, Ed’s classmates still look to him for assistance. But he doesn’t consider himself a genius. In fact, Ed says, “I don’t even consider myself one of the smartest kids. I’m just more motivated” This kind of motivation may be what propelled him to sixth in the nation at a Denver chess tournament in fifth grade.

So who is Ed Strong? “Math Nerd,» he says. “That’s all it’s ever been. But it’s actually better now.”

As freshmen, this is the first year we’ve been allowed to play tackle football during lunch. For some, this is an exciting new way to have fun. For others, it is daunting. Ed Strong harbors no such fears. The sight of Ed running full speed at you with the full intention of body-slamming you to the ground strikes terror into the heart of even the toughest freshmen. Tavish Fenbert, a man among boys both on and off the football field, has fallen victim to Ed’s bone crunching tackles on multiple occasions.

“On defense, he’s the biggest man out there” says Tavish. “Lots of people keep telling me to go out for football” Ed says, “but my mom won’t allow it.”

Ed’s mother is his only family member as he was conceived via artificial insemination. When he’s 18, if he wishes, Ed can find out the identity of his father. For now, he receives male guidance from his uncles. Ed’s uncles introduced him to the Seattle athletic scene. They have accompanied him to countless Mariners games and aroused an enthusiastic passion for sports. Part of the appeal lies in the mathetmatical aspect of sports statistics. Back in the eighth grade, Ed would spend entire bus rides arguing about the value of WHIP, FIP, and other esoteric statistical measures of baseball performance.

Ed is partially color blind but this doesn’t keep him from experiencing the arts. He fills his creative void with music. Since the third grade, he has played flute and piano and in fifth grade, added tenor sax to his resume. “Music has made school much more enjoyable,” he says. “Eighth grade was my best school year in a while and I owe much of that to music.”

But what will the future bring for Ed Strong? Ed pondered the question for a few seconds, sat up straight, and craned his neck forward in his trademark style. “I hate that question,” he said.