The end of this Hershey student’s high school journey has come to a close sooner than he thought.

Alexei King is a Hershey high school senior graduating in 2019. He has less than a month until graduation. Like most high school seniors, King can’t wait to get out and enjoy his last summer as a “kid.” He’s looking forward to many things like no work and plenty of parties before he has to get serious in August.

Unlike most kids at Hershey, who have been here since elementary school or even preschool, King moved here in the beginning of senior year for soccer exposure and because of his mom’s work. Before Hershey, King spent his first three years of his high school career at Cumberland Valley High School.

Moving to Hershey was a great choice because it gave King several good opportunities athletically and academically. For example he has been committed to Misericordia college since October for soccer.

King is a center midfielder in soccer, one of the most competitive positions according to Soccer Expert.com. In the 2018-19 season Hershey High School boys varsity won districts over Lower Dauphin and went a few games into states with King playing this position. Hershey boys soccer has also been successful in past years so college recruits often look at the players. He got a scholarship to a D3 school, Misercordia, by starting varsity at Hershey. Starting varsity in high school sports gives you opportunities to be noticed by college scouts.

Other than sports, Hershey is also more academically challenging than where he was before. Cumberland Valley High School is ranked 1,937 in America and 68 in Pennsylvania as shown in US News. Hershey is ranked 14 in Pennsylvania and 604 in America also shown in US News.

Moving to Hershey wasn’t a difficult transition either, since Cumberland Valley is fairly close and plays Hershey in sports, so many kids from the different schools play club together. King was familiar with many Hershey kids because of those circumstances. “The people are fun at Hershey and I don’t really miss anything from Cumberland Valley,“ said King.

Not only does he play soccer but King also plays lacrosse on his off season. He currently plays varsity for the Hershey Trojans as a defensive midfielder. “My favorite thing is the guys and having some good banter all the time,“ said King.

The Hershey Lacrosse team has a mix of multi sport athletes and they all get along great. Brock West a freshman who’s on the Hershey lacrosse and hockey team is good friends with King. “He is a great guy and a good player and i’m glad he transferred here,” said West.

Since King moved here for soccer and his mom’s job he lives by himself in an apartment. His mom had to work more hours this school year so King living solo and going to Hershey lifts the burden of having to take care of him full time. King doesn’t mind this because it’s teaching him what college will be like and giving him an early idea of adulthood. Plus everyone likes their own space, he compares it to a college dorm. King doesn’t struggle with this because he can already drive and he just cooks food in the microwave, he is also close to the High School and can make an easy commute.

Although he will be trying to have fun his summer after senior year he will be playing the Hershey semi-pro league, Hershey FC, that is part of the National Premier Soccer League. The NPSL is a league for men that do not get paid but are recognized nationally and compete in multiple tournaments.

King is excited for college in August, he’s majoring in Exercise Science and does not have a minor. In college King is going to stay on campus for summers in some sort of summer program so he can graduate early.

“I just want to do less classes during [the soccer] season and get some credits out of the way,” said King. This makes things easier to manage during soccer season, it causes student athletes to have less work to worry about and can get proper training and sleep.

He even has ideas for life after college. After college King hopes to be a soccer coach preferably for boys and not girls because he “can’t relate.”

Andy Briggs or Coach Briggs is the Hershey High School boys soccer and lacrosse coach. He has influenced Kings interest in coaching. Briggs also coaches youth soccer for the Hershey Soccer Club. Briggs has let King dabble in coaching by allowing him to takeover a few of his youth boys practices for Hershey Soccer Club.