OLMatters - The School Paper
Capturing Memories for the Future
Vol X
Aug 2014 - July 2015
Meet the new HS-Supervisor
Mr. Christopher Scott Cole was born in New Jersey, U.S.A. and came to Brazil with his Brazilian wife, Adriana, an OLM alumna.
by Rodrigo la Cerda & Isabela Lopes (´18)
Tell us something we do not know about you…
Okay, so something you don’t know about me. I’m the youngest in my family of four; I have two brothers and one sister. My dad is the youngest of his family-of ten- my dad is 80. I have an uncle that would be 100 years old today. What you don’t know about me is that I had five uncles serve in World War II. No one knows that! It’s pretty unique. If you have ever seen the movie “Saving Private Ryan” it´s about four brothers being killed in World War II. I actually had five uncles serve at the same time in World War II.
Pretty crazy…
Writer & Book
I’ll kind of just put them together. I guess one book I have referred to at times is Steven Covey’s “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”. It’s a good book, and I recommend it to anyone regardless of what you’re going to do. That’s my writer and my book.
Word
I would say perseverance, because obviously in life you are going to see ups and downs, regardless of your social economic level things will happen to you, will be challenging, and you need to make sure you can persevere and work your way through them, and I think that’s a very important word for me, in my life, dealing with different situations I’ve been through, both professionally and personally. So perseverance is my word.
Film
My favorite film… I’ll say this is my film right now because of his death recently, Robin Williams died - they say committed suicide, but regardless, one of the films that he was in was called “Good Morning Vietnam”, and it’s a really funny movie! It kind of gets sad in the end, but I’ll say that’s my film for today. Maybe not my favorite film of all time, but I kind of put that in dedication to Robin Williams, and I think he was pretty funny.
“If it is to be
it is up to me”
Best meal / drink
[Cole: That’s tough…
Interviewer: Chocolate?
Cole: yeah… ]
Chocolate’s good, but my best meal… I like rib eye steaks, which we really don’t have here. We have different steaks here that are very good but I like a rib eye steak and I’d drink that with a red wine. Red wine goes well with red meat. Those are probably my best meal and drink; off the grill, that’s how I like to cook it.
Music
I really like a broad range of music. It sounds crazy but I like everything from rap to classical. If you looked at my iPod you’d find Jay-Z to Beethoven. Literally. My phone-I can show you-there’s like a chilling one [playlist] which is kind of like Frank Sinatra and you’re relaxing, and then I have all the way to my workout one, which could be T-Pain.
Musical Group/Band
Cole: My favorite music group or band?
Interviewer: could be one single singer too
Cole: Alright. There are a lot of them. I like a lot of different kinds of music, but… Let’s just say that the final two would be Nirvana and The Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Kind of like 50, 50 [percent].
Clothes
[Cole: Clothes? I guess that now I have to wear a tie everyday, so… Interviewer: Can be clothes that you feel comfortable in, maybe?]
I would like to have a golf shirt, like my Nike Dry-fits I wear, a pair of shorts, and be able to go to the driving range in the golf course, so those are the clothes I’m most comfortable in. But I have to wear a suit everyday, and that doesn’t bother me. I’ve worn suits ever since I was in college, I did internships at Merrill Lynch a whole year and a half or two years, so even during college I had to wear suits just about every day during those two years, and so suits don’t bother me at all.
Sport
My sport is kind of torn, because I don’t play golf here although that’s probably my favorite sport. But here it would probably be basketball; because that’s the sport I probably play the most here in Brazil.
Dream
I dream a lot about the future for my son, and how I can help make it happen. I have high hopes for him, as most parents do for their children. So I dream a lot about the future. I dream about being able to retire with my wife, and somewhere in Florida probably, or the Caribbean. Play golf all day, while she plays tennis, and then a meat for lunch kind of deal.
That’s the kind of dreams I have.
The best of Brazil
To be honest, the best of Brazil was moving here to have a family, because my wife was not going to have any children in the United States, and I think for me Brazil is represented in my son, because he’s Brazilian and he’s American too, but I think the best of Brazil for me is having my son and my wife, being home at four o’clock on the afternoon, and working nine months a year. I think that if you looked at our past my wife and I both worked in finance and worked until nine o’clock at night, five or six days a week sometimes, and that’s not really conducive to having a family, and so I think for me the best of Brazil is a combination of having my son, having a change in my career and shifting into education, which has been very rewarding for me, and I love working with my students, and getting to know them, and bring the best out of them as well, and so that’s kind of a combination of what the best of Brazil is.
The worst of USA
Its ironic that I say this, but it’s probably the credit crash for me, because that shifted me from working in finance and things were much different for both of us- my wife and I both worked in finance, in the same field, in the same company, actually, and overall financially, things were much different. We were, financially, much better off before, we could take a trip anytime we wanted, buy a new car anytime we wanted, things were much, per se, easier, but at the same time it was harder because, as I said before, it was much more stressful, much more time-consuming and things like that.
City
City’s kind of tough, because I grew up in the New York area, and obviously I still have a lot of family in New Jersey and New York, but I like Tampa, Florida a lot, my wife and I both do, but of course we live in Rio, so I’m kind of split between those three. But if I had to choose one, I’d probably say Rio, because I live in Rio right now and this is where my family is, and home is where your heart is, right? And my heart is here with my baby momma, as you would say, or, in other words, with my wife and my son.
Mr. Cole, Mr. Shawn Bally and Mr. Souza - Pep Rally
Mr. Cole and João Victor Galhego (´11) - Spirit Week
Complete the sentences...
Friends are .... very important in your life, I think. I think a lot of times, depending on who you associate with, which you can say is your friends, you can kind of dictate the type of future you might have, the type of attitude you might have, the type of success you might have, and depending upon who you affiliate with, it has an influence on all of that. They’re not always right, but friends are with you. If they’re good friends-I only have a couple of good friends that I still keep in touch with at my age that I’ve had since Middle School, I would say. I have a lot of acquaintances that I wouldn’t necessarily call friends. I think friends are someone that you want to associate with, because of their level of character, honesty, and those things.
Family is… I have two brothers and a sister; my parents are still alive… I have a big family. I think family is probably the most important thing when I think of my wife and my son, and I think family is a true inspiration for people, regardless of your walk in life- if you’re the poorest person or the richest person. Family is a great source of energy and centering. For example using your family to kind of balance yourself. Family is always the one who tells you “Hey, you’re getting too cocky…” or “You’re a little too egotistical” or even “You’re down, something’s wrong but it’s okay, you’re going to live through it” so family for me is quite important-in every day of my life.
God
[Cole: I believe in God. I was raised Roman Catholic.
Interviewer: But what is God for you?]
You know, a lot of people have a different kind of opinion on God, depending on your age and your relationship with God and even how you might talk to him. I have two brothers who were raised Roman Catholic but then went into other areas of Christianity, because that was their choice. Their opinions of God kind of changed maybe a little bit from what mine is, but in terms of God for me… I think, as my brothers would always say, talk to God. If you’re having a bad day, thinking a lot, talk to God, read the Bible, whatever you want to do in terms of that end. But I think that God is… If you believe in Catholicism obviously God is a lot more than maybe in other areas or to other people, but I think… It’s a tough answer! I think God is, like I said about family, a great balancer, but I think God helps us balance individually, if we talk to Him and read the Bible and understand at least what Roman Catholics think about Him he helps guide us through decisions, he helps guide us through areas that are maybe dark, let’s say, areas that we’re having a rough time with, and I think that God is something, if you do truly embrace him, that can be very helpful in a lot of situations. Not for everybody, because obviously people don’t have the same beliefs, but when I think of God I think there’s a lot of different spirituality out there in the world… You know, whether if you believe in the Quran or if you’re Jewish… You know, various areas. And, again, when I think of God I think of spirituality, and I think to a certain degree, depending upon your religion, your spirituality should be sort of a guiding force behind big decisions that you make, so I think that God across different religious should be kind of that guiding force for you.
Cole by Cole [How he would describe himself]
Probably as a classic overachiever, which basically means that even if I do something really well, I still feel like there’s room for improvement. So I think that would probably be one description Cole by Cole. Another one might be, let’s say…a type-A personality, someone that’s very driven, goal-oriented, always concerned about achieving your goals and enjoying.
That’s probably Cole by Cole.
Quote
I think I’ve said to you guys before, you might remember it at some point, but I always think of the quote and never really about who the actual author is, but it’s the ten most powerful two letter words, and it’s something my brother told me a long, long time ago. He said: “If it is to be it is up to me”, and basically I think in life, if we remember that, we’re solely in control of our destiny. And although we have outside influences that sometimes impact that, if we work hard enough, and if you put your mind to something and persevere like I said before as my word, then really good things are possible and you can work through dark areas in your life, if you’re upset about things or whatever it may be.
So, “If it is to be it is up to me” is my quote.
Mr. Cole and Ms. Azeredo - Pep Rally
Thing you like the most
The thing I like the most is to see happiness, and right now, in particular, in my son’s eyes, my wife’s eyes, my family here. Seeing them happy if we’re going out for a day or if we go to beach or maybe if we’re watching fireworks when we were home in the Fourth of July.
I like to see them happy; that’s the thing I like the most.