(S32) PT 1 - Mentor

[mook]

SHL Affiliate

[Pat]

Dallas, Texas

Christian Marciano walks through the front doors of Hector P. Garcia Middle School in south Dallas. As he walks through the front doors, he's greeted with waves and hugs from a number of the students. Christian is a program ambassador for Education Open Doors, a non-profit focused on providing middle and high school students with a roadmap to applying and preparing for college.

"When people see me, all they see is the perfect embodiment of a Quarterback. They see my toned muscles and chiseled jaw and just expect me to be some dumb jock. Yeah, I'm probably the best football player ever, but I'm so much more than that. I'm also the smartest football player on any team I'm on. My mom thought I should have taken the Mensa test when I was 12 but I told her that I didn't need a genius grant because I was going to make billions of dollars playing football, and, well, we know how that turned out."

As he makes his way to the Administrator's office, Christian's face lights up as he notices a boy around the age of 12 walking towards him. "Yooooooo! Miguel! How you doing man?" Marciano says as the boy nears. The two exchange a fist bump and a what appears to be some sort of a secret handshake. "Miguel here is one of our shining stars in EOD. Ever since I showed up this dude has increased his GPA from 1.7 up to 3.1 and hasn't been missing of his classes. Miguel, I gotta go check in with Principal Baldwin here real quick, but I'll catch up with you later alright?" Christian says as he and Miguel share yet another elaborate handshake, this one ending with flying chest bump which knocks Miguel onto to the floor.

Before walking through the doors to Administration, Christian is stopped by a teacher, Mrs. Santos. "Oh what up Mrs. S? Guys, Mrs. S here is our main teacher liaison for EOD at Garcia Middle School. She's been helping me with Miguel. How you doing today Senorita?"

Mrs. Santos has a visibly upset expression on her face. "Not good Christian. I've got some bad news. Miguel was caught cheating on his history test on Monday. When we asked him about it we discovered he's been cheating consistently since he joined EOD, especially since you became so involved. Would you be willing to talk to him? He looks up to you and talks about how he's going to be just like you when he grows up. We think you might be able to convince him to take his schoolwork seriously."

Christian's face drops. "Yeah, Mrs. S, I'll set him straight," he says, with an authority reserved for gameday.

Christian begins walking down the hall with purpose. The schoolchildren who were once greeted with waves and hi-fives are not shoved out of the way and ignored. After a couple of minutes, he finds Miguel talking to a few friends at his locker. "Beat it, nerds," Christian barks at the children, who quickly scurry away. "Miguel, what the hell man? I heard from Mrs. Santos that you've been cheating on your schoolwork. What are you doing, man? You can't get into college by cheating!"

Miguel instantly breaks down into tears. He slowly strings together a few words between sobs. "I.. I'm sorry Christian," he begins. "No! Only my friends call me Christian, and right now you are not my friend," snaps Marciano. "From now on you will call me Mister Mad Dog!" He nearly yells the end of his sentence, following it up with a number of barks and growls.

"I'm sorry Mister Mad Dog," continues Miguel, whose sobbing has turned into full-on crying. "I just... I just really wanted to be like you. You're my idol. I just couldn't keep up with my school work and the three and a half hours of Quarterback drills you taught me. I'm really sorry."

A crowd has started to form around the two.

"You're sorry?" yells Christian at the visibly upset child. "You know what? I'm sorry, too. I'm sorry that I ever thought it was worth my time to try and teach you how to be cool like me. It's obvious now that you were a lost cause. You never could be like me - no one can. I'm the best ever. And if you keep cheating and not taking your school work seriously, you won't have a chance in hell of even being 10% as awesome as me at life. You hear me?!" 

By this point, Miguel has fallen to the floor and curled up into a small ball. "Okay," he forces out between his gasps for air and violent sobbing. "Okay Mister Mad Dog, I'll start taking my school work seriously. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."

Christian stands up straight and takes in a deep breath. "Good. You better," he says. He then offers out a hand to Miguel and picks him up the floor. By this point the crowd around the child's locker is a mix of students and faculty, each with a horrified look on their face after seeing a grown man yell and bark at a child.

He wades through the crowd as he heads out of the front doors of the school. As he pushes the doors open, the stern look on his face is replaced with a smile. 

"Man, I love giving back to the community like this. I'm probably the best mentor Education Opens Doors has ever had," he says to no one in particular as he makes his way to his car.

[ValorX77]

SHL Affiliate PT

[By-Tor]

Affiliate SHL PT Link

[Big Newff]

SHL Affiliation

[ddrector]

WSBL PT

[Yeenoghu]

Although teenagers are quite headstrong, Juan Domine would try to emphasize the importance of doing well in school by relaying the story of a well-intentioned athlete that he played against almost ten seasons ago as a newcomer to the DSFL. While Domine was the most prolific tackler of the DSFL, a runningback named Crowbar Theeks was the premier rusher for the Tijuana Luchadores. In his rookie season for the Luchadores, Theeks carried the ball 337 times (over 50 carries more than any other player!), en route to a Running Back of the Year campaign. In the following offseason, both Domine and Theeks would both be selected by the Chicago Butchers, but they would never share the field--or even a locker room. Both players stayed in the DSFL for another season, once again anchoring their teams from their respective positions. However, the cracks were already beginning to appear for Theeks. Though he would still rush for 1,000 yards on the season, he was largely outclassed by rookie Bronko Mills. Theeks would never play again in the DSFL or ISFL, instead quietly exiting football a season later. Theeks' 'flash in the pan' moment serves as a reminder to all aspiring athletes that one's time in the league is never a given, regardless of your talent. The truth is that much of an athlete's success can be attributed to factors outside of their control--avoiding injury, having the right coaching staff, or just plain old luck. While it's a great goal to have, becoming a professional athlete is very unlikely, so having a stable backup plan is crucial to having a successful career outside of the game.

[ZootTX]

SHL Affiliate PT

[Pvtpenne]

Unfortunately my kid cousin is going through the phase in school where they think school doesn't matter because they are going to be a professional athlete. I think it would be best for me to step in and have a talk with the little guy. 

"I, too, went through a similar phase when I was in elementary school when I wanted to be a chef and a football player. I didn't think school mattered in order to reach my goals in both of those professions. Boy was I wrong and luckily for me I didn't try to stick with the school doesn't matter mentality. Look kid, if you give up on school now and do poorly, you're never going to get into college and you absolutely need to succeed in college in order to be a professional football player. If you don't get your grades up, you'll get kicked off the team in high school. And if your grades in high school aren't good enough you won't be able to get in to college. Just let me know if you are struggling with studying or certain classes and I can help you out. Anything you need, let me know."

[Opera_Phantom]

Hey kid! You know what? Fuck school. Nobody cares about that. The only thing is that you need to keep your GPA above a certain threshold so that schools do not drop your scholarship offers. So the main idea is for you to be close with your teachers and student advisors. Make them like you as much as possible. Make it difficult for them to fail you in any class. You know very well student athletes have it way easier than anyone else in campus, so do not mess that up by any means. And another advice, be sure to not ace any of the tests, keep it simple stupid. They know you are not the sharpest tool in the shed, you are only there for your physical abilities, so they can't be thinking you are going anywhere else than the field. And then use your free time to get better at the game. Go for it.

(157 words)