Thank You, David Griffin

A very long time ago, in a time where I was still athletic, my soccer coach pulled me off the bus after a game and looked me dead in the eye. We had just won a tournament and it was freezing cold outside. I could see his breath when he said: “you are the engine that drives this team.” And then, not blinking, he said the same thing again for emphasis. I can still remember this 15 years later like it was yesterday. I remember the exact location, the way the cold air felt, the angle of the bus in the parking lot. At that time, I was a pale, skinny kid playing in inconsequential adolescent games. To be told that so directly, to be believed in like that, transformed the way I thought about myself.

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