A different person from Charlotte Latin Athletics is featured on the first Tuesday of each month with twenty questions to help the CLS community get to know some of our athletes, coaches, and supporters a bit better.

Our May interview is with a well-rounded, multi-sport athlete, who took the plunge to try some new things this winter and achieved some unexpected results. Meet Maxwell Williams, an eighth-grade student who has big plans for the future in this month's 20 Question Tuesday.

1. Have you always lived in Charlotte and gone to CLS?

I was born in Charlotte, but I didn't start at Latin until sixth grade. I went to River Gate Elementary School before that. It's really close to Carowinds, so you can see the rides from the windows.

2. So what brought you to Latin?

My older brother went here. Christopher. He's 22 and lives in Boston. He played baseball at Latin and I had been here for games to watch him. I applied to two schools, but I didn't want to go to the other one, so I was really excited when I got into Latin. We had moved and lived closer to the campus. When I toured, I had an older guide and I was nervous about that but he was really friendly. Then we visited the fifth grade, since that's where my peers were, and they were all really friendly. After I got in, I went to the parties admissions had over the summer. I felt awkward at first because I didn't really know anybody, but that was just at first. Everyone was really nice and included me.

3. Have any teachers made an impact on you during your time at CLS?

There are a lot! I'd say Ms. Staffieri, my Spanish teacher right now. She just has a lot of energy and she's really nice to all of her students, but she can also put her foot down. I just think she's a really good teacher because of the amount of energy she puts into the class.

4. You had a role in both the Middle School play and the musical. Did you have any theater experience before that?

I was in my old school's choir. We actually were in the Battle of the Choirs when I was in fourth and fifth grade and we got to perform at the Blumenthal.

5. That's awesome! But still, you didn't have acting experience, so what was the audition process like?

First, we did an improv game to warm us up and see how we do with improv. Then they gave us a script and grouped us randomly to perform the scene. In Wizard of Oz, I wanted to get the scarecrow or the lion, but I got the gatekeeper. I was kind of bummed about that. It seemed like a weird character to be because he was super mean, but then I realized it would be okay because I would have a chance to try out for a bigger role in Frozen. With that audition, we got the music in advance so we could sing the song we would need to perform. Also, beforehand they gave us choreography we needed to remember. We got paired up with duet partners just by who was lined up next to us, but there were more girls than there were guys, so I had to go three times. During the choreography part, I thought we were going to do a quick rundown before they rated us, but they didn't do that so I was like, "Oh no."

6. It worked out okay, though, because you got the part of Kristoff, right? Did anything surprise you about the experiences of being in those productions?

The people in the play were really supportive and nice in general. I mean, an abnormal amount of support. And Frozen was really fun because a lot of my friends did it. Caroline Hughes was Elsa and she's one of my best buds. She actually lost her voice during rehearsals and when she was able to sing again, she'd lost some of her confidence, so Karlin (Smith) and I took her into one of the choir rooms and told her just to belt. She did, and she sounded great, so we told her just to do that on stage and she did and she got a standing O. And Karlin, she has a lot of stage presence and energy and we all elevated ourselves because of how well she was performing.

7. Switching gears now to sports. You just wrapped up the baseball season. What are your earliest sports experiences?

I have been playing baseball since I was about five or six. It was kind of a no-brainer because my brother was already playing and my dad asked me if I wanted to go to the baseball field, so I was like, "Sure." I remember playing with all the other kids there and trying to make friends with them. I played at Steele Creek till I was maybe eight, then I moved to a travel program. I played basketball too, when I was around seven to ten years old. It was fun at first, until I realized I was really bad at it, so that's why I stopped playing and decided to work on baseball.

8. What's your favorite part about baseball?

There's such a variety because there's so many different positions and they all feel different. At third, it feels up-close and you have to be a wall, because the balls come at you faster, but they move less. There's less chance of a bad hop. At second, you have to keep up with a lot, to be ready for anything and be prepared for double plays. Outfield is kind of chill, because not too many balls come out there and when they do, they're usually pretty easy. You're kind of on your own little island out there. Then hitting...I've used a lot of different approaches when hitting. When I try to kill the ball, I usually strike out. So now my mentality is to get a base hit, and I often get more than a base hit. Besides hitting, playing second or third is my favorite. I can play almost every position besides catcher or first.

9. You also joined the swim team this year, which was not something you'd done before. What inspired you?

My friend Karlin convinced me to sign up for swim team. Before this year, the only time I really swam was one set of lessons at the YMCA about a year ago. I didn't have a good grasp on swimming, but I signed up and it turned out to be really fun. A lot of my friends were on the team, so I liked it, even though that first practice was crazy. Coach Thomsen wanted me to go all the way down and all the way back, and I was like, "What?!" I didn't realize how much conditioning and breath control you need to swim. I was always stopping. During the season, it became easier because when you're in the water every day, you get used to it.

10. At the beginning of the season, you were initially very intimidated by the deep end and didn't know how to do a start. How did you overcome those obstacles?

I was scared of the deep end because I was scared of sinking to the bottom. I asked to be next to the wall so I could hold on to the gutter. Coach got me flippers to use and that helped. I still don't float in the water, but I know that when I swim, I'm not going to sink. To learn how to do the start, I went off the side of the pool (rather than the starting block) and at first was just sitting, then standing. Eventually I tried the block, and I wouldn't say I belly-flopped, but my legs went forward and then back and slapped the water. That hurt a lot. I kept trying but it hurt. One day before a meet, Coach Patty stopped me at the end of warm-up and had me do a lot of dives over and over until I finally grasped it and I did better then. That was really helpful.

11. You seemed to have a lot of fans on the pool deck.

I had a lot of support during swim. From my teammates and my coaches, and also from my mom. It was as exciting for her as it was for me, because she was proud of me for doing something out of my comfort zone. She could come to my meets and time and meet my teammates. She also timed at the conference meet and that was really fun. I was surprised how much I improved. I think I dropped like twenty seconds.

12. Do you think you'll join us on the varsity team next year?

I think I'll do swim next year, if it doesn't interfere with anything.

13. That's right! There was overlap between the musical and swimming. How did you make that work?

It was difficult. Coach Thomsen and Mrs. McCarter were supportive, but it was stressful at times. I didn't know if I wanted to split it and do play rehearsal one day and swim the next, or try to do some of both every day. I ended up doing a mixture. Whenever I had a big meet, I would just do swim the day before. And when I missed a whole day of play practice, I would focus on that the next day. I would do extra swim after practice to make up time. I missed some of the early rehearsals where we blocked scenes and put in choreography, but I got a lot of help from Wilson Rhee who played the other Kristoff, and I made it work.

14. Are you excited about moving into Upper School next year?

I'm excited to go to Upper School, but I'm not excited to be a freshman. I hope I get a good schedule because I want my free period to be next to my lunch period so I get a whole hour and a half break. I signed up for media as my elective and I'm excited about that. I'm also looking forward to English. I'm hoping to have more creative writing pieces.

15. Let's finish up with some fun questions. What wakes you up in the morning?

My mom. She's gentle at first but then she starts telling me to hurry up.

16. What's your favorite holiday and why?

Christmas or Halloween. Halloween because I like the vibe of it, and I like how October feels. But I also like Christmas because you get to give and receive presents and spend time with family.

17. What's the best vacation you've been on?

A cruise to the Bahamas. I met Shaq on that trip! We were on the beach and someone started yelling, "O'Neal! O'Neal!" so we followed the person and there was Shaq sitting at a bar talking to one of his friends. I was the one to ask. I tapped him on the back and asked, "Can I get a picture with you?" He was nice. He was actually funny. He ended up taking pictures with all of us.

18. If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

I would say telekinesis, because I feel like that would help me. If I was on the couch and didn't want to get up to get the remote, I could just make it come to me. Or if there was a ground ball, I could slow it down and make it come easy. It would help me a lot in my day-to-day life.

19. When you were in kindergarten, what did you want to be when you grow up?

I wanted to be president in elementary school. And I actually made a whole campaign ad for myself. It's still on our refrigerator at home.

20. And now?

I want to go to Stanford. That's my big goal. But I don't know what I want to do there. I have a theater side, a sports side, and a school (academic) side. I'm going to go to Stanford and major in business or psychology and play sports. And if that doesn't work, maybe I'll go to acting school and be on Broadway.

Photo by St John Photography

Photo by St John Photography

Photo by St John Photography

Photo by Bill Dauska

Photo by St John Photography

Maxwell and his brother Christopher