(June 3, 2003) — Playing varsity golf. Learning and teaching piano. Maintaining a 4.14 grade point average. Helping remodel the family kitchen. So, what have you been doing this past semester? According to sophomore Ryan Samuelsen, it’s just a “part of [his] nature” to do go above and beyond average. “I would feel like I’m not doing enough if I don’t do my best,” says Samuelsen, who has been playing golf since he was about 11 years old. Samuelsen began playing golf for the Glendale High Nitros when he was a freshman and has played as a Nitro ever since. He says that he doesn’t quite remember being too horrible at it, nor being perfect at the sport when he first started to play. “If I asked my dad, I’m sure he’d tell me,” jokes Samuelson. Indeed Ryan’s father has played a major role in his golfing in the sense that Ryan got into it because his father has been playing since he was on Burbank High School’s golf team. According to Ryan, not enough attention is paid to golf in this day and age. A bit ironic, since he says that he himself usually only watches the fourth and last day of each televised golf tournament, “just like anyone else would watch the fourth quarter of a football or basketball game,” says Samuelsen with a little laugh. During the high school golf season, the Nitros’ coach Bob Francis would drive the players out to golf courses such as Oakmont and Brookside so that they could practice for about two hours each day. Although the season has been over since Ryan and fellow Nitros placed third in the final games against other state high schools early last month, he says he still practices whenever he can get to a golf course. As for a future in golfing, Ryan has this to say: “I’ll definitely play golf for the rest of my life, but I’m not going to pursue it as a career.”