The chords strung on the cheap guitar, as senior Hayden Sampson played on a homemade bench. 

“[My younger brother] is really good at building benches. I get to sit on [them] and play my guitar,” Sampson, Tempe Preparatory Academy’s quarterback said. 

Sampson’s younger brother, Austin will be an incoming freshmen after Hayden graduates. They do not get to play football together on the field, but “are a team off the field and my relationship with him is important to me,” Hayden said. Hayden’s family bonds over Sunday dinners, games and their love for sports. 

“Relationships are very important to him and that is part of what makes him strong,” Austin said. Hayden lives by the belief that the best things in life happen outside of his comfort zone. 

Many may know him as playing on both sides of the ball in a helmet and pads, however, he defies all typical jock stereotypes.

“I am actually in choir. I was also in a musical,” Hayden said. “I really like to be able to do things that people would not expect me to do. I like singing.” 

Two other seniors on the football team, Ridley Diez de Medina and Louis Ternyik are a part of the choir as well. In the beginning, Hayden had a couple of friends already involved and auditioned lightheartedly, but then the audition went better than he had initially intended.

“I actually ended up getting in,” Hayden said.

From that moment on, he applied the same mentality that he brings to other sports to the theatre. “I cannot let the team down, kind of like football. I ended up putting in more work than I was expecting, and it turned out well,” Hayden said. 

“That is the really cool part about going to Tempe Prep. You have a free range of anything you want to do and it is not as competitive as bigger schools. If I am capable of doing it, I get a shot,” Hayden said. 

Those who have not seen “High School Musical” the movie may not understand the expectations that it sets for the four years of high school. 

“I am not going to lie, but I try to model my high school experience off of [High School Musical] to be honest,” Hayden laughed. The character Hayden most relates to is Troy Bolton. 

“I like him for a couple of reasons. He is good at sports... He is also a good singer, but one of the other reasons [why] I like him is because he is so nice to everybody that he meets,” Hayden said. “He is a good leader in general for his high school. I like how he could be the typical popular person, but instead he is kind and is friends with everybody.”

The aspirations of living up to “High School Musical'' is not complete without the iconic duo of Troy Bolton and Chad Danforth, best friends and teammates.

“Ridley is definitely my Chad. He has been with me since day one,” Hayden said. 

Diez de Medina agrees.

“It has been a couple of years, and we are both leaders on the football team and in choir,” Diez de Medina said.

Hayden’s high school experience could not compare to the movie without the music. The recognizable song “The Boys are Back” was his first choice when it came to drawing parallels to his own life. This song shows the growth of two best friends bringing their childhood back to life through song and dance. 

“I always like that it reminds me of my friends and I or my little brother,” Hayden said. 

The song represents two best friends talking about growing up together. 

“We’ve been friends all of our lives and we do almost everything together. At this point, Hayden is basically my brother,” Diez de Medina said.

Each song chosen has a separate form of meaning to what is important to his high school life.

“For [song] number two, [it would be] ‘Work This Out,” Hayden said. “Things are hard sometimes and some things do not work out like you think they will.” He points out that in order to figure out solutions, “You have to work as a team.”

The last song that Hayden chose was “Getcha Head in the Game.” This song ultimately talks about how Troy and his teammates need to focus on the game, because he is focused on something else. Although Hayden has no problem juggling his studies, choir practice and various sports, “It is a fun song.”

When Hayden first joined choir, even some close family and friends were intrigued.

“I was definitely surprised, but I knew he was going to love it and with some work be decently good at it,” Austin said.

But on top of the fun and friendship, he stuck with it for two big reasons: his drive to succeed and an influx of extra time. 

“I have never been a super big musical person and I have never been that good; but I like the idea of accomplishing something that I did not think I was going to be able to do,” Hayden said. “I like the atmosphere of working hard to be good at something as a team like sports and singing with my friends.”

“When quarantine started...I was so bored. There was a cheap guitar online and I got it,” he added. Learning the guitar could be a difficult skill, but with hours of practice he has come a long way. “After choir [was canceled due to the pandemic], I was like ‘what else can I do that I was not expecting to do?'

“Guitar fell into that category.”