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Ben Wright: The Man, The Myth, The Legend
By Emily Kelley
If you ever need to find Ben Wright, just look anywhere his family is. “We always would go on vacations with
him when we were younger, and we went to Disney with him once.” Ben smiles fondly as he talks of his
grandfather, eyes crinkling at the corners above his mask. For most of our conversation, I can see that this
relationship is something special within Wright. Ben and his grandfather often volunteer at the food pantry
and work together on various projects, something that instilled in Wright a love of working with his hands.
We are sitting in an AC-plentiful classroom, a rarity in our Canton High School: reclining as best we can on
metal desk chairs. It is these family relationships that buoy freshman Wright through the unfamiliar world
of high school.
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As we speak, I learn about Ben’s first few weeks in this new setting. He’s joined the soccer team, and already
has plans to play hockey this coming winter. “I like hockey a lot more because I’ve been playing it for longer,”
Ben remarks. “I still like soccer, but not as much as hockey.” Wright is starting his CHS soccer career as
left-wing, and has been playing left and right-wing in hockey for years. When I asked Wright what his experience was like winning states and regionals for hockey a few years ago, I could see just how much his love for the
sport thrives within him. “It was a lot of fun because we were with people we had known for a long time,” Ben said as he fondly recalled his teammates and their victory.
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Another area of passion for Wright is technology, a region he says he may pursue in the future. “All of the stuff that you can do with it, and how you can learn a lot of new things from it,” Ben answers immediately when asked what about technology drew him in. However, you won’t catch Ben Wright designing video games-or playing them for too long. “I wouldn’t consider myself making them, and if I were to do it a lot my parents would kill me for it.” He laughs.
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Throughout our conversation, Wright’s quiet humor shines through, most of all when he tells me the story of how he broke two arms-in one year. “I was biking to go fishing one time, and my brother was ahead of me and his friend was behind us. I was holding something in my right hand, so I only had my left free. My brother stopped cause he said he saw a person, which I say was very far away-but he doesn’t,” Wright quips, performing the typical sibling eye-roll we all have done at one point or another. “We were going downhill, so it’s like 20-25 miles an hour, and I only have my left brake, which is the front one,” Ben’s explanation helps-his interviewer is clueless about bikes. “So I stop and I go over the handlebars, and just slide. I broke my right wrist that time.” Wright casually recounts the grisly tale. “And then the second one, I got hit in a hockey game.” Once again, Ben confirmed my assumption-he’ll do anything for hockey.
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As our conversation comes to a close, I have learned more than enough about Ben Wright to know that he will bring great things to the CHS community with his quiet confidence, eagerness to learn, and friendly ways.
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