I first met Travis Perakovic six years ago, when we were in the sixth grade. For almost five years after that, I had a distorted and untrue view of him, like many others.

The first time I got to sit down to talk with Perakovic as a senior, he was bowling with some friends. He would interrupt the interview by making disgusted remarks such as, “Ugh, oh great.” And his friends would follow up with, “He hates glow bowling,” or, “He hates this song.”

Perakovic would often not answer a question of mine until I answered one of his. His questions included, “Do you like Star Trek or Star Wars better?” and, “Are you more of a beef or chicken (Ramen) noodle type of person?”

Perakovic finds school to be an ongoing challenge.

“I’m not stupid. I just have trouble sleeping and I come in late and fall asleep during class,” Perakovic said. “Teachers think it’s because I’m bored. It’s not that I don’t care, it’s that I don’t sleep at night.”

Towering over many other students, Perakovic stands at 6 feet 5 inches tall. It is easy to say Perakovic is one of the more “intimidating” seniors at KHS. However, he is friends with many people.

“I have a lot of charisma,” Perakovic said. “I interact with people really well, and I make friends easily.”

Perakovic will often pass friends in the hallway and  say “I love you” to them in a loud and serious voice.

“I have a group of friends, and we’re all really close,” Perakovic said. “We tell each other that we love each other a lot, because we do.”

As the youngest of four children, Perakovic comes from a close-knit and kind-hearted family.

Perakovic’s house is never consistent in how crowded it is, whether it is quiet and empty or crowded with family members over for a home-cooked dinner and family movie night.

“Travis wasn’t always a monster,” Ms. Alex Perakovic, Travis’ sister, said. “Do you want to see pictures of him the summer before he grew 10 feet?”

Many people are intimidated by Perakovic, but he doesn’t know why they feel that way.

“Probably because I’m big, dumb, and ugly, and I tower over everyone here,” Perakovic said.

It became very apparent throughout each interview that Perakovic has a dry sense of humor. He gets this from his father, Mr. Fred Perakovic, and continuously has sarcastic remarks to share.

However, what many people do not know is that there is not much to be intimidated by.

“His whole life he has always been a very sweet, giving boy,” Mrs. Cathy Perakovic, Travis’ mother, said. “He’s always helping someone.”

Later that night, Cathy told a story of how Travis helped make sure a girl got home safe one night after she had too much alcohol.

Perakovic spends a lot of his free time working outside on cars and landscaping.

“I roofed a lot over the summer,” Perakovic said.

Aside from working, Perakovic has interests in art and music. He plays the tuba in the KHS symphonic band and also is a skilled pianist.

Perakovic is also very active and enjoys bowling for fun.

“I was thinking about joining the bowling team, but I don’t think I have a high or steady enough average,” he said.

As for what his future holds, Perakovic is not completely sure. He plans on attending Baker College after high school and going to flight school after that.

“I don’t know where I’ll be (in the next 10 years), but I know that I want to be married and have a steady job and a big family,” Perakovic said. “I’ll be happy as I can be.”