If you could eat with a celebrity, who would it be? “Leo Messi is one of the best soccer players. Hopefully, I want to go to Barcelona and watch a game with him.”
Freyu Ippel is a junior at Trinity from Ethiopia and lived there for 17 years. He lived in the capital city Newflower. He came to the United States in 2010. He went to Rehoboth Christian High School in New Mexico. During his childhood, he lived in Mercado, which was a well-known and dangerous place. It is one of the biggest shopping places in Africa. It was always crowded. He grew up playing soccer and loved it at a young age. Coming to the United States was a big step for him, adopting the language, get along with the community, getting involved with the church, make friends, play soccer was the craziest thing that has ever happened to him. And fit in into the community. His uncle has always been very supportive and positive. Freyu has made a lot of mistakes and got off of track. He sacrificed a lot and raised Freyu and his sister. If he died tomorrow or today or if Jesus was coming back, he would go back and do the things I regretted. He regrets that he doesn’t spend a lot of time with his family because he is so busy and independent. He sees his family every once in a while, he say a proper goodbye. He saw his grandma this Christmas and didn’t talk to her. Seeing other people succeed and seeing people change for good motivates him.
What words do you live by or what song describes your life? “You must experience and accept the extremes because if the contrast is lost, you lose appreciation. And when you lose appreciation, you lose the value of everything. What does that quote mean to you? “It’s trying to say you have to experience and accept what’s coming up. When good things come you have to approach them. Because if you don’t appreciate the things that matter, then you lose the values.”
One of his weaknesses is forgiving and he has a hard time saying sorry, because of not having enough patience. One of his strengths is determination and he hates losing. That motivates you to work harder and be better. He would like to be remembered as a person who had an impact on others in every aspect of life. He also wants to be remembered as a person who doesn’t quit for himself and doesn’t quit for other.
When he first came to America, it was his first snow day. He was waiting for the bus. When the snowflakes was coming down, he thought it was coming down from the tree. He found out when he went to school, it was actually snow. He is studying for business and film. He would like to work on the agricultural sector in Africa because there’s a big market for the farmers over there. He is working with people on building a multi-purpose vehicle that will help farmers. He want to use his film skills to make documentaries of the farmers.
He have always been independent and he likes being around people, but likes to do things by his-self. He makes his own decisions. Him and his biological parents are close, but they live in Africa. They are hard-working people. His foster parents and him are close. They are very generous and helped him a lot. The reason why he was able to adjust to Trinity was that he knew the former president, visited a couple of times, liked the environment, the community and the city of Chicago.
He played soccer and the former soccer coach recruited me when he was in high school. He likes to watch shows and movies in his free time and hanging out with music. He really likes R&B. Usher is one of his favorite artists. He likes his lyrics. He is Christian reformed and he doesn’t always go to church. The transition from high school to college wasn’t as hard for him as he thought, but it was still challenging for him. He had people supporting him and was working hard for him to become familiar with the place. If you were talking to every person in the world, what would you say to them?
“I would tell them to treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special enough to spend his time with. He is working on his relationship with God. He has made friends here through sports and activities such as basketball and volleyball games. History with Frye was hard because of a lot of memorization. Helping others make him happy. He really likes helping people. He has gone to Serve trip last year in Kentucky. They fixed a family’s house and talking with them. “I built friendships with the people I didn’t know. We saw their appreciation for what we did for them.”