Goalkeeper Aidan Harris
From watching Alexander Isak on Sky Sports, to attempting to stop the velocity of one of the Newcastle United superstar's shots in training just days later, not to mention picking up the nickname Ederson at the Magpies' senior HQ.
It's a surreal situation that your average North-East teenager could barely imagine, but for Washington lad Aidan Harris, it has become the norm. Not that budding first team youngsters get much chance to stand back and admire the array of Premier League big-hitters in training.
For it has to be a case of hitting the ground running. Only this week Eddie Howe told Chronicle Live that the pathway to first-team stardom remains illuminated between Little Benton and the club's main Benton HQ.
However, as the stature of the club rises, the window of opportunity feels like it is reducing. Nevertheless, the sign above the door at the club's youth development centre is clear and accurate and reads: "Today is your opportunity."
Opportunity often knocks in life, but not everybody can grasp it, and sometimes, when they decide they are ready it can pass you by quicker than when the moment arrived. Washington lad Harris is one of the latest Newcastle youngsters who is faced with grabbing that chance to be a star at St James' Park.
It's a big dream, but it feels like I'm talking to somebody who dreams big. His progress at the Academy has been good enough for Howe to not only call him up to first-team training but stick him on the bench for a Champions League match against AC Milan at the San Siro.
At 18, many of us are cobbling enough money to go away on holiday with pals for the first time or enjoy the bright lights of the North-East's evening hot spots. But Harris, who has been on the books at Newcastle since he was 11, is prepared to sacrifice the life of a normal teenager for something much more exciting than a fortnight in Magaluf or Kavos. He stands at the door of a very different Club 18-30! One that could lead to a life on the big stage in the Premier League.
Around the club's reserve team stadium at Whitley Park there are boards with words such as accountable, humble, integrity and resilent. Harris reflects a lot of that in what is one of the first media interviews he's ever done.
Harris told Chronicle Live: "It is mad. From watching Sky Sports to trying to save a player like Alexander Isak's shots!
"I grew up watching all the top players. I grew up in the area and always want the North East teams to do well because of where I'm from and where my family is from. Now I am at Newcastle, I have fallen in love with the football club. It has just made me want to be where they are (seniors) and the only way you can do that is by playing against the best footballers in the world."
In terms of role models, Harris could not have picked more illustrious idols to emulate in Man City star Ederson and Bayern Munich's Manuel Neuer. But how exactly did the youth team keeper end up being nicknamed Ederson by some of his team-mates? It started the day Howe told him to play the role of the Brazilian in training.
Harris revealed: "I remember one training session and I went into the practice as Ederson! So I was pinging the balls long and it earned the nickname Ederson for me with the senior pros. Or at least it went on for a week or so before dying off! But I do admire Ederson, he is a great goalkeeper, and I am trying to bring Ederson into my game now, a lot more.
"Trying to play out and keep composure. With Manuel Neuer, he is great as well, a very good sweeper of the ball. You are a fifth defender these days or a sixth if you play a back five."
It was only last season that Harris went from life at the club's Academy to sitting on the bench for a Champions League group game in Milan. Harris recalls the moment Howe broke the exciting news to him.
He said: "The gaffer has spoken to me since, and I thanked him for the opportunity when I went to Milan for the Champions League when I was on the bench. We had a little conversation, and he took me to one side and said: 'You deserve this opportunity'.
"To hear that from a manager who is one of the most important figures in Newcastle history is huge for me. I have worked closely with the coaching staff a lot, Adam Bartlett, who is the head keeper coach now. He used to be at the Academy and was always intense and quite strict when I worked with him when I was younger. I liked that and he has never changed so it is always a joy working up there with him."
Even without getting on to the field, the journey from the playing fields of Washington to the San Siro is an impressive one. "Unbelievable," Harris recalled. "I went out on the pitch for the walk around and as soon as we walked out all you could hear was the boos and the whistles. Our fans were up in the Gods like St James' Park as well so we really felt the hostility. But it was a great experience.
"It felt like it was a mile walk to the changing room, it is huge at the San Siro. Then we had the same again for the warm-up, incredible noise. And it was the same for the 90 minutes. I was just praying they didn't score and it ended 0-0 thankfully.
"There was a Milan fan to my left and he was talking to the bench all the time. He was shouting at Sandro Tonali because of his past with AC Milan.
"I learned so much from it. You can tell what the crowd will be like just from the warm-up. You then know when you come back out you have it in your head to be prepared for whatever could happen. The Milan fans were behind the goal and higher up so they aren't quite on top of you but you could definitely feel it.
"You can feel everything, every single boo, every single whistle. The Newcastle fans were great as well. They were very loud. Considering the stadium was 90,000, they were incredible."
The slogan 'intensity is our identity' started doing the rounds at Benton two seasons ago as Newcastle journeyed to the Champions League. But what's it like being in one of Howe's training sessions?
Harris said: "It is very intense. The intensity up there is different (to the Academy). When you start, there is no chance to get going, you need to be straight on it. I like the transition in terms of intensity from the Academy to up there.
"Last season I got used to the intensity but going up there now feels like an extra fitness session! But I really enjoy it.
"We start off with the keepers, then I will be told I will be training in the main session with the first team to do whatever. Whether that be possession boxes, a small-sided game or just some kicking depending on what team the first team are playing against or who they play."
Howe has assembled his squad with purpose. Many wondered why he brought in 38-year-old veteran John Ruddy on a free transfer last summer but Howe is not a manager who is threatened by the presence of senior professionals.
Ruddy is in reserve if needed but also a calming mentor in the background. For a player like Harris it is a vital part of the club's support network - and often an unseen cog in the black and white wheel.
When asked about the senior pros and whether they are down to earth, Harris said: "Yeah, they are, and most of them have been in the Premier League or in England for a long time, so they know the crack. When you are working, they want you to be on it.
John Ruddy watches on as Aidan Harris dives to make a save during a Newcastle United training session
"The same for the coaches they want you on it but after the session they are free to talk if you need them. John Ruddy has been a big one for me. He is like a player-coach, so you can ask him anything because he's had so much to do in the game. He is a mentor.
"He is a similar style goalkeeper to me, so I like to watch him. Nick Pope is much taller than me and has a lot of different styles.
"I do watch John and ask him about style, set positions and how he gets down to the ball so quickly. He has a long career and is still doing it well. I want to know how to keep that longevity, and at the start of my career. Whether it is me adopting a new style like his or keep adding stuff to mine to make myself better."
The Houghton-le-spring-born youngster was looked at by his hometown club Sunderland as a kid, but Newcastle moved quicker.
Harris said: "I've been here seven years and came in at Under-11s so this is my eighth year coming up at Christmas. I am from Washington and played for a team called Washington United. I played there for about three years.
"I was at both Newcastle and Sunderland as a kid. I had development training at both. Sunderland took a bit too long and Newcastle offered me a six-week trial and the day they offered it, we had a tournament at the Academy, I did really well and just continued to do well. A couple of weeks before my birthday I got a contract so it was really good.
"Growing up, I played a lot with my older cousins, that was always tough and rough! Whatever got said got said!
"I have always grown up around that and I am used to it. That doesn't compare to a full stadium though! But I think it (crowd hostility) is something you have to deal with if you become a top professional. From my experience whether it is an U18 game with a few people watching or a full stadium, the crowd does not come into the frame.
"The noise might be there but you don't focus on what is being said or what people might be doing. You just focus on the game."
The St Robert of Newminster Catholic School pupil went to the same school and lived in the same street as England's current No 1 Jordan Pickford. But he wouldn't mind having even more in common with the Everton goalie.
Harris said: "I have met Jordan a couple of times, he went to my school so he knows a lot of people in my area. He used to live a couple of doors down from me and my friend's mam used to babysit him!
"So I have met him a couple of times. The last time I saw him was a few weeks ago. Every time I see him, I ask him a few questions on how he's doing and talk about goalkeeping.
"It is a lot of pressure in school being another keeper that is coming through after Jordan. Maybe making the first team or maybe not. Everybody always compares you to Jordan. I do like that. It is not a bad player to be compared to. I try to bring him into my game. I think we are similar as people, kind of the same keeper too. Maybe he is a bit more erratic!"
And what about those sacrifices? Many fans of a similar age can cast envious glances at Academy players but the hard work is real. And Harris needs no reminding, he said: "My mates are still at school or college. They will break up later than me.
"They have their lads' holidays booked and I had to say 'no, sorry'. I will be back in pre-season then.
"They may go out every weekend, but I know I can't. I might go to somebody's birthday now and then, but I can't, and I'm fine with that. You have to sacrifice a lot to become a top pro. I feel I am doing well with that. The benefits are there long-term. You can party all you want after your career."
For now, the hard work continues for Harris, and he's soon joining the post-training banter again with his club-mates in the canteen. Focus is the key word.
Harris said: "I think you have to and can't go too far ahead. You can't get lost with your own destiny. You can look too far ahead sometimes, as you don't know what is coming tomorrow, let alone next season.
"That debut is the end goal. Everything in between is a little goal, the end goal is to be Newcastle's No 1 for as many years as that will be. If that ever happens, that will be unbelievable."