About one month ago, family, friends, peers, and teachers alike of Marcus Mattson had to face the tragic reality that someone who they had loved so dearly had passed. Those of us in Raleigh were lucky enough to get to know Marcus before he moved to Pennsylvania last year.

When asked about their first impression of him, Marcus’ best friends both articulated the confusion they had experienced when someone who looked like a 40-year-old man with a full beard stepped into their school. However, they quickly discovered that “grown man” to be a joyous, free spirited boy who would come to change their outlook on life forever.

Marcus attended Wakefield his freshman through junior year, participating in music and athletics alike.  Chorus teacher, Mullinax and football coach, Rodney Sink, guided his involvement with school.

“Marcus was big in everything that he did,” said Mullinax. “He was a big personality, he had a big smile, he had a big voice, and he would live life big. He was just big.”

Coach Sink also had some kind words about Marcus.

“His light heartedness and jovial attitude made him a joy to be around,” said Sink. “Some young men are just negative and you have to pick them up— you didn’t have to pick him up. He always seemed ready to go.”

As happy of a person as everyone knew Marcus to be, his closest friends knew that Marcus was as human as any one of us and struggled through hardships as well.

“Even if he wasn’t happy on the inside, he radiated happiness to people around him,” said Enloe junior and one of Marcus’ best friends, Shareen El Naga. “He has always inspired me to be the best that I can be and feel beautiful in my own skin and not worry about the way I look, how much I weigh, or what I eat; he would tell me ‘Just be yourself and be happy’. He encouraged and inspired [people] to be comfortable in their own skin because that’s what he was, and that’s what he wanted other people to be.”

Mullinax also found him to be a leader and a motivator, and later emphasized the tenderness and fondness that Marcus portrayed through his voice.

“He liked the passion of singing,” said Mullinax. “He was a passionate soul … The biggest impact he had on everybody was being able to make music with him; it was a gift.”

Despite his life being so short, Marcus lived a fulfilled life. El Naga considered the importance of a good life.

“He was always a better person. Every day that he was here, he was always just doing good for somebody or making somebody happy,” said El Naga. “He taught me that I can’t control the future—only a little bit—so now, I want to focus on being happy and being a better person because what if I don’t get [that chance] later?”

Senior, Robert Belonga was one of Marcus’s best friends; Belonga admired Marcus’ ability to make the best of life as it came.

“He really showed me how to enjoy the little things,” said Belonga. “I would drive him to school and he’d point up to the sky and say, ‘That’s a nice sunrise.’ He showed me that those moments are what are important.”

When asked what his favorite thing about Marcus was, Belonga didn’t have to think twice.

“His goofy laugh. His goofy laugh and smile—every time he said something ridiculous he’d always start smiling and giggling,” said Belonga. “[Marcus] wanted to show other people that it’s okay to have fun, to smile, and not to be so serious all the time.”

With the strong presence that Marcus had in so many of our lives, to know that he is not with us anymore has left us feeling that something significant is missing.

“When you get to know each other and you sing together, you have this bond that is going to be there forever,” said Mullinax. “It can never be broken. If we made music together at this point in time, no one can ever take that away. We can never reproduce it, and even if it were to be recorded, it’s never going to feel the same as it did in that moment in time. Being able to share that with him leaves an impression on me and on the other singers. There’s this void there that can’t be filled. I talk to them all the time about how the singers are like keys on the piano. If I have a key missing, it’s just not going to sound right. So whether [the singers] are participating actively in the group or not, they’re still part of the family and they always have that bond.”

Similarly, El Naga has felt that absence in her life.

“He told me that I would always be the girl to have his heart and he always had mine, so when he died it was like he took a part of me with him,” said El Naga. “I don’t regret that at all. I’ll always want him to have a part of me, I’ll always have a part of him too, but it’s hard going on every day knowing that you lost a part of yourself.”

Despite various people in Marcus’ life getting to see a different side of him, he has left us all feeling the same: sorrowful from losing him, but blessed to have gotten the chance to know someone so rare. To commemorate Marcus, his family will be having a balloon release during his birthday weekend, on March 19.