I was born and raised in a modest wooded ranch style home on the outskirts of the rural town Neola, IA. My parents closest relatives resided two hours away in Tekamah, NE. The theme of family importance held common ground amongst my fraternal twin -Sam- and the six other siblings. Whenever the outside world would slam down its hellacious boot called life, we all had each other’s backs to rely on. Growing up, my mom and dad raised us to be humble, contributing members to the society that resided right outside our screen front door. We were taught to stick up for what you believe in and to speak up for someone with no voice. That no matter what you're doing, or where you are, someone is watching. Furthermore, a flamboyant attitude does not increase
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With an 8-0 record and a combined point total of 217-14, everyone in our district had high expectations. As the seasons changed and the leaves broke apart and disappeared from sight, so did our highly coveted class of 2018. Half of my teammates either open enroll to other schools or just simply quit with no rhyme or reason to why. What would follow within the next three seasons was nothing less of an absolute beatdown from our opponents. I won't lie, it was heart-wrenching to witness all the work us remaining boys put in and to still have no trophy or banner to represent our efforts. Eventually, the scoreboard became nothing more than a number. It was only then that I realized it was my job and duty as a captain to instill a sense of worthiness into my teammates. A sense of worthiness that no one felt from our student body nor even our school district. I started with positive talk, screeching roaring after a big play, everything I should have done since day one. All the exterior noise and hurtful words did not matter. What only mattered was the men right next to me in the mud-filled trenches we competed in. Looking back, my high school career would not have been nearly as rewarding if I had never taken the leap of faith into my innermost leadership
With an 8-0 record and a combined point total of 217-14, everyone in our district had high expectations. As the seasons changed and the leaves broke apart and disappeared from sight, so did our highly coveted class of 2018. Half of my teammates either open enroll to other schools or just simply quit with no rhyme or reason to why. What would follow within the next three seasons was nothing less of an absolute beatdown from our opponents. I won't lie, it was heart-wrenching to witness all the work us remaining boys put in and to still have no trophy or banner to represent our efforts. Eventually, the scoreboard became nothing more than a number. It was only then that I realized it was my job and duty as a captain to instill a sense of worthiness into my teammates. A sense of worthiness that no one felt from our student body nor even our school district. I started with positive talk, screeching roaring after a big play, everything I should have done since day one. All the exterior noise and hurtful words did not matter. What only mattered was the men right next to me in the mud-filled trenches we competed in. Looking back, my high school career would not have been nearly as rewarding if I had never taken the leap of faith into my innermost leadership