What is your name and grade? I’m Jacob Ilagan, and I’m a junior.
If you could jump into a pool of anything, what would it be full of? I would jump into a pool full of Pepsi Zero. I love it; it’s my favorite drink out there. I mean, it’s probably not the best for your health, but I’d definitely jump into a pool of it.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten? A coach once told me: Think like a goldfish. What that means is that if something, some minor inconvenience, comes your way, assess it and then just leave it behind. Don’t dwell on the bad things.
What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you? So, during swim season last year, I used to wear a shorter suit, like a Speedo. And then during an event, I had a wardrobe malfunction, and it was really embarrassing, because I was close to the audience since I was in the lane closest to them, so it was really embarrassing. And my coach was right next to me, too.
Who is the most overrated celebrity? 100% Taylor Swift. I personally think she’s overrated. She’s no different than most pop stars we get nowadays; she doesn’t really do anything that special. I feel like she’s only risen in popularity because she’s dating one of the Kelce brothers.
If you could time travel, would you go to the past or the future? I would go to the past, just so I could relive certain moments. That’d be pretty cool. I’d also like to see some events that I wish I had been born for, or that I wish I had gone to but couldn’t. Like, I would love to see the dinosaurs. It would be like Jurassic Park but in real life. That could be pretty cool.
What are some nicknames that you have, and where do they come from? Okay, I have three main nicknames that I go by, and they’re from different people. My most common one is Jake, and it comes from my teachers and my family. It’s just the shortened version of my name; there’s nothing that special about it. My second one is “The Lion” from swimming. It’s a little corny, I’m not even going to lie. I don’t know—my coach called me it as a joke, and I guess it just became a running gag after that. And then my third one is from when I was bleached; a lot of my friends would call me Jimin or some other Korean play on my name, because I really looked like a K-pop star. It was awkward.
What’s your go-to pickup line? There’s many… oh, yeah, I’ll be like, “Can I hold something?” And then I’ll reach out my hand, and they’ll be like, “What?” And I’ll be like, “Your hand.” And that’ll be tough, you know? But, I’m not getting any girls if I said that.
What’s the most unusual thing you’ve ever eaten? Well, I haven’t eaten much unusual food. Oh, one time I was at a friend’s barbecue, and this isn’t really unusual, it’s just more so: how did I finish it without realizing? So, my friend’s dad was making a bunch of beef skewers. They were pretty big, too—they were about as big as my ring finger. I ate like four of them, and I just didn’t think anything of it. And then he was like: “Did you eat the beef skewers?” And I was like: “Yeah.” And he’s like: “Oh, those weren’t cooked. Those were raw.” And I just don’t know how I was able to eat all four without noticing. It’s interesting.
If you could meet anyone in the world, alive or deceased, who would it be? I would love to meet Paul McCartney. I love the Beatles. Paul is my favorite Beatle, and I listen to the band because of him, so I’d love to meet him. Also, in terms of songs, I personally love “Nowhere Man” from the Rubber Soul album. It’s just a very good song, and it really weaves together nicely.
What is your biggest accomplishment in life? So, two years ago, at a volleyball national championship, I beat the team that ended up winning the whole thing, and then most of those players I beat ended up going on to the USA national team. So, it was a really cool accomplishment that I beat, you know, national-level players at one point.
What is your biggest regret in life? I’ve got a lot of regrets. This is not the biggest regret, but it’s a pretty big one, and it was bleaching my hair last year [for swimming], because not only did I not tone it, but this was the most dead it ever was during a swim season. Like, my freshman year, I got it professionally done, so it was still alive and it was a good shade. But when I did it my sophomore year, I had Haktan do it, and I’m not even going to lie, it was bad. I looked like a hay bale. It was really bad. And then I dyed my hair back and re-oiled it, so the oils would come back in. It took a long time.
If your phone could talk, what’s the most embarrassing thing it would reveal about you? Ooh… that gets dark. It would talk about my Minecraft group chat from 2021. That group chat was probably the worst version of me to ever be out there. He was a huge cornball. He was also kind of an idiot. Yeah, I’d like to leave that Jacob behind.
What is your favorite hobby and why? I love doodling—not drawing, like I can’t make perfect art with models or anything—but just doodling on my homework, on whatever piece of paper I can find. It helps me to de-stress.
What’s your biggest pet peeve? I have two. I hate people who crap on other people for not being perfect at something when they suck at it as much or even more. I see that a lot—in orchestra, volleyball—it really ticks me off, you know? And then, also, this is kind of a random one, but I hate seeing jorts, especially the really baggy ones. Just wear jeans at that point, or just wear regular shorts. It looks kind of stupid, in my opinion. Oh, I also hate people who are unnecessarily loud, especially in quieter areas, like the library, where there is no reason to be that loud. That gets on my nerves.
Who inspires you in life? My brother inspires me the most, because we come from the same background, same family, we’ve had the same amount of opportunity, and have gone to the same schools. I feel like since he’s doing good in life, that gives me a chance to do good in life. So, I don’t follow in his footsteps, but I try to work as hard as he does and take that blueprint he left and make my own version of it.
Is there something else that you want to tell readers that I didn’t mention? Catch the Niles North boys swim and dive team against Vernon Hills, and I think Maine East maybe, I don’t know, sometime in January of next year.
