Coral Gables High senior Max Wood loves to act. He’s a council member of Gables Players, and Troupe 476. The two clubs are interconnected for those who do drama at Gables.
“We do plays after school,” Wood said.
They also put on a talent showcase. Wood said it is similar to a talent show but there is an audition process and only a select few are accepted.
While acting is important to him, so is water polo and swimming. Wood is captain of the swim team. His main events are the 200-meter freestyle and the 500 freestyle and he is good enough to have reached the regionals in his events.
At this time of year, Wood is playing water polo. He is on the Gables team, which is having a good year despite being in a strong district and facing coaching issues.
Wood has been in water polo since seventh grade. He started playing with the Ransom Raider club team when his mom suggested he needed to find a sport to play.
At Gables, he was a starter as a freshman.
“I was the only starting freshman on this team with great seniors,” he said. “I’ve been captain for two years.”
Outside of school, he continues to play club water polo and recently competed in an international tournament.
After high school, Wood will go to the University of Florida. He hopes to play club water polo there. He considered trying to play in college but most of the colleges with water polo teams are either Ivy League or in California. He’s not sure of his major; he is looking into acting or psychology.
“I’d like to be an FBI profiler or an investigator,” he said.
Throughout high school, Wood did his fair share of community service. He belongs to the youth group at First United Methodist Church of Coral Gables. He’s done three mission trips with the group — one in Tennessee and two in Puerto Rico.
— Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
