If you have been a part of the Breck Upper School at all in the last three years, then there is a very good chance that you know Michael Sweeney, aka Mido. It may be athletics, it may be in the classroom, or maybe it’s just in the hallways, no matter where you are in Breck, Mikey is most likely there. While many of you may know of him, many of you don’t really know who Mikey is, so I decided to have a sitdown with him, and here is what I learned.

Dylan: Who are you?

Mido: I am Michael Xavier Sweeney. I am built upon schemas of what I’ve been through and I am a human who goes to Breck. That is all I really know. So when you ask who am I, I can never really know the answer to that question. Only my future can answer that, and instead, you should ask, who will I be?

Dylan: What is your life story?

Mido: Although I don’t recall any of my past lives or journeys, what I can recall is my current one. I was born to Jenni Marie Lilledahl and fathered by John Joseph Sweeney. I was born to one brother William Joseph Sweeney, aka Sweewi. I was raised in a household of love and laughter. I am lucky for the gifts I was given and the opportunities that were set at hand for me. Fast forward to today, I aspire to be a student at Hamburger University and a future employee for McDonalds, Inc. Although this may be a tall task, I believe that I have the abilities to achieve this lengthy goal.

Dylan: What are some memorable experiences that shaped who you are today?

Mido: In first grade, a table fell onto my toe and broke it. This taught me the lesson of finding the beauty in adversity. In fifth grade, I failed my writing class seven times. This rough year taught me that nothing can take the place of persistence and that it helped me today as I feel I am an accomplished writer and thinker. The most important memory was the day I was born. In this memory, it was my first thought that I was “the most hated,” and it also taught me the lesson to bet on myself. P.S. thank you William Walker III, and Waziri Lawal for helping me out with some of these. 

Dylan: What life advice would you give a dog if it could speak?

Mido: Think really carefully if you want to expose your powers, because if you think about it, what would really come with that? All that would come with exposing your powers would be exploitation. It may seem that you would become famous and that people would really love you, but what would they really love you for? They would only love you for your speaking ability, and love you because you are a dog that can talk. So my advice is to find the people that would value you for who you are, regardless of who you are. Go find those human bonds and the people that would fetch a stick if you threw it. Go find those people that would eat the same meal if you were giving it to them. Go find those people that would ring a bell and sit on a mat before they go to the bathroom.

Dylan: Any closing remarks for the people?

Mido: I would like to say that there is a good mix between taking things seriously in life and not. I have never really agreed with the statement “don’t take things too seriously,” but I also think, to be honest, just being honest, that you should be unserious and goofy most of time. I think a good way to live life is to find the balance here. I think that as members of Breck, as strong intellectual beings and priviledged humans, we have the obligation to take things seriously because there are real issues in the world. We need to be change makers. But have some goofy moments along your way to greatness.