Michael Robinson II ’06 was born into an Air Force family so as a youngster, he lived in North Carolina, Greece, southern California and in Okinawa, Japan. As a sophomore in high school in Okinawa, he attended Kadena HS with over 5,000 students of American military personnel. When his father was getting ready to retire as an Air Force jet engine mechanic, they transferred to Travis Air Force Base outside the Bay Area in northern California. There, he excelled in football playing a variety of positions on offense and defense and played in the East- West Shrine game as a senior. He received recruiting interest from Langston University in Oklahoma but chose to stay local and played at Solano Community College (SCC) in Fairfield. 

Ian Reid grew up in the upper Willamette Valley in the town of Silverton. He didn’t know much
about SOU until he attended a summer football camp at Raider Stadium the summer of 1991.
He fell in love with the campus, the Siskiyous and the small-town atmosphere. It was not too
far away from home but was far enough away from home!

Jimmy Johnson ’06 grew up in Klamath Falls but his family settled in Medford at age ten and he proceeded to graduate from North Medford HS in 2000. Initially, he did not know what he wanted for a career but being that he came from a family with law enforcement ties, including his father, who was an Oregon State Police (OSP) officer, he began to take criminal justice courses at Rogue Community College (RCC). In 2001, he accepted an offer from the Jacksonville Fire Department (JVFD) to become a volunteer in exchange for them paying for tuition at RCC.

Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, Daniel Chávez ’16 journeyed with his family as a toddler to the US, making Coos Bay, OR, home. While his original motivation to pick up the saxophone may have been to impress his crush, Daniel was quickly captivated by learning to create music and a life-long passion began. During his high school years at Marshfield HS, He showed promise as a musician early on and earned a position playing clarinet with the Oregon Coast Lab Band, as their youngest member. His time with this experimental band for young artists provided him his first opportunities to interact with seasoned musicians and perform often in professional settings.

For Carl Green, Jr. ‘09, just graduating high school was a first in his family on Kodiak Island, Alaska. With his mom caring for four children, Carl admittedly was a bit on the obstinate and wayward side during his junior high and early high school years. He didn’t really know what his options were after graduating. It was a commitment to joining the Alaska Army National Guard that really set him up for success.