James's Story

When I was a child growing up, I always wanted to be big, tough, and strong. I looked up to people that carried and portrayed this image. So that’s the attitude and mentality I took. As the years went on, I became bigger, stronger, and much tougher. I thought I was a total “badass” and with this came confidence. Walking the halls loud and full of confidence, many teachers called me a leader, but for the most part it went in one ear and out the other. Fitting the stereotype perfectly, I was a big, strong football player that always found a way to get in trouble and never took school seriously. I carried this mentality and idea through most of my schooling until my sophomore year. One day after working out my sophomore year with Dylan and his dad Mike, Mr. Mike had a talk with me. He told me I was getting bigger and stronger. He also told me something that would change my point of view forever. Mr. Mike said, “You know James, it isn’t about how strong you are physically and emotionally, it’s how you use your strengths to better yourself and impact others.”

I sat awhile and let these words sink in. I even went home and laid in my bed trying to fall asleep and still thought about what he told me. That night I realized something about myself: there was more to being a big, tough, strong, macho football player, who is loud and has a lot of friends. Maybe my teachers were right. Maybe I had the potential to do great things and to lead others. 

After that night everything changed for me. Returning to school, I started caring about my grades and others’ feelings. I began taking schoolwork more seriously and opened up to people I never thought I would. I could do more with my strengths and natural leadership ability than just be that guy who is good at football and acts up in class. 

At first most of my friends did not take me seriously, when I started to show more effort in school. They thought it was a joke, and it would not last long before I was back to my old routine. Those who did not know me just didn’t believe me when I said I was actually trying to change. As the year went on, more and more people began to accept my goals and support me in my decisions. However, some did think I was only doing this for some sort of notoriety, but they were wrong. I was only doing this for self-fulfillment. 

I was still able to maintain the tough guy image, but with a nicer and more caring side to myself, who most didn’t know or care to know. Now that my years in high school are about to come to a conclusion, I can look back on them and know that a small simple phrase changed my outlook on life. Those words of guidance given by Mr. Mike helped guide me to reach most, if not all of my goals, in all aspects of high school and life. I now look back on my four years of high school and know that off and on the field, I put all of my strengths and heart into everything I did and exceeded my own expectations of myself.