WITH RESPECT TO THE BOSTON GLOBE, WHO IS JESSE SPARKS?

Now I know who Jesse Sparks is.

And I’m glad.

If everyone had the tenacity of Jesse Sparks, we’d all be better off.

Tenacity of purpose.

This is a story about a regular guy’s tenacity of purpose and drive to do better. To be better. To think things through and not to be denied.

Jesse Sparks took the straight and narrow path, made the right choices along the way, worked tirelessly and simply would not accept anything less than success. No shortcuts.

He knew he wanted it.

For himself and for those around him.

Jesse Sparks was a schoolboy football player at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, not exactly a high school football factory around here, but he could play. Flat-out speed was his signature and he incorporated this God-given talent into his routes so effectively that he became a superstar wide receiver.

In fact he was so blindingly fast that in 2007 he finished second at the Massachusetts All-State Track Meet, running the 200-meter event in 22.22 seconds. Parlaying his speed and athleticism into storied triumphs on the gridiron (and on the track) yielded him a full ride to play football at Northeastern University after he graduated from high school in 2008.

Following his sophomore season, Northeastern announced that it was discontinuing its football program but would honor those scholarships awarded.

Jesse Sparks’ right choice #1: he stayed in school.

He was a good student, he liked to learn and it was free. An easy decision for one who is thinking. Upon graduating with a degree in criminal justice he began the job search, taking civil service exams and even the LSAT to enhance his position and expand his options.

It was a difficult time and only one offer came his way.

It was from Rindge and Latin where he had worked summers on a moving crew. The job description would be tweaked a bit. He would be a nine-to-five custodian at his alma mater. Where he had been a football hero.

A janitor.

With a mop and a rolling rack of cleaning supplies in tow.

Jesse Sparks’ right choice #2: he pushed aside his embarrassment, humiliation and anger and allowed his great humility to rise to the fore. He deftly parried his mild depression over the turn of events and his life’s course and accepted the job. After all, it was a steady paycheck.

With the help of two of his former high school guidance counselors, he carefully plotted his next move.

Jesse Sparks kept his custodial job and enrolled at Lesley University in Cambridge to pursue his Master’s Degree in a three-year program. He was going to counsel students as he had been counseled because he was naturally adept at it and it had worked for him.

And he was going to pay for it himself. No mountain of debt for this young man; he didn’t want to spend more of his life digging out from under.

He lived with his mother, kept the ‘9–5’ and embarked on his desired pursuit, engaging in an installment payment plan with Lesley. (It should be noted that the ‘9–5’ became afternoons and evenings because in the mornings he was working as a counseling intern at R&L). He used accrued vacation time to exit his evening shift early. After all, the seat with his name on it for night classes at the university awaited.

Oh yeah. With budget constraints so tight around his collar that they could choke a horse, he still managed to put another $500 per year toward an annual scholarship for the Rindge and Latin senior who wrote the most compelling essay about overcoming adversity.

By his third year at Lesley, even Jesse Sparks had to admit he was a little tired.

Between school, work and his internship he was hustling from 8 in the morning to 10:30 at night every day. But it was fulfilling and uplifting. When his head hit the pillow he realized that the embarrassment was gone, replaced by his status as a bona fide role model for the kids who were watching him so closely.

Not bad to have in your hip pocket if you want to be a successful counselor.

Others were suitably impressed too. Remarked Richard Harding Jr., a Cambridge School Committee member who remembered the young Sparks as humble and hard-working, “…[he was] a first-class kid. He just persevered and did it the right way. Often our young people don’t get enough credit for doing things the right way. I think that it takes a certain person with a certain amount of humility.”

Amen to that.

In June, Jesse Sparks earned his Master’s Degree in clinical mental health counseling.

Describing the gamut of his unforgettable set of experiences at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School, he somewhat sheepishly but nonetheless proudly reflected that “I graduated from the school, cleaned the school, then interned at the school,” before adding, “I haven’t slept for three years.”

(Naturally, no mention from him about his prodigious athletic exploits).

For the immediate, he’s retiring his mop and pine oil to help students in a summer program. The dark circles under his eyes are sure to fade.

To gainfully employ Jesse Sparks would qualify as yet another ‘right choice.’

The definition of an understatement, don’t you think?

Anyone hiring?

[Editor’s Note: This piece was written by Mr. Kaplan in July 2017.]