Ko Harmes '21 Recruiting Profile

My name is Ko Harmes. I graduate in 2021 and I live in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. I have been playing soccer since I was four years old and I want to continue my soccer journey through college.  I play soccer for Lakewood High School, but I attend Jefferson County Open High School(JCOS) academically. JCOS does not have any sports and instead uses funds granted for sports to be utilized for experiential learning through travel within the Unites States and internationally.  The focus of the education I receive at JCOS is founded upon experiential learning and community service.  These are the aspects of education that I would like to continue to pursue with my College experience while playing soccer.  

Through my academic school I have participated in service work traveling to Nogales, Arizona, to do volunteer work with the non-profit organization No More Deaths, Humane Borders,  the Colibri Center for missing persons, and the Florence Project.  I have traveled to Kayenta, Arizona, to participate in service work on the Navajo Nation conducting research with my archaeology class tracking human movement through the Tsegi Canyon, and  I learned the history of WWII through the lens of the 10^th Mountain Division, then doing a five day back country ski trip to one of the huts as a culminating learning experience.

Up until my sophomore year of high school I participated in many sports other than soccer. I realized that in order to exponentially get better, I had to commit to the sport that I loved the most—which was soccer. I knew that I could not commit to multiple sports at once. I had to make a choice that would forever change my future. I look forward to where this future will take me and what new adventures await me in soccer and academically.