Who are the influences, role models, etc. in your life?

Past and present.

I think number one right now is my son. He really influences the majority of decisions I make b/c everything I do now affects him.

Number two would be my Dad. The older I get the wiser he gets. I just wish I had realized how smart he was when I was younger, but I was a really cliche teenager. Now every chance I get, I ask him questions and try to learn from him.

No particular order,

Coach Watson, HS track coach. Two things that will always stick with me from this guy. Hard work to achieve goals. Coach Watson ran us into the ground and when we were completely worn out and had nothing left, he ran us more. I had never worked so hard in my life as some of the things he made us do. I played football and went to football camp, believe me, Coach Watson was harder. Today, when I'm doing something physically demanding, like the agility test for the Fire Dept (I'm trying to be a FF), I just think back to those afternoons and pretend he is still pushing me.
He also made sure that we represented ourselves, our team, and our school in the highest fashion at all times.

The second thing that stuck with me was when he stopped coaching track. He felt that GP was moving away from it's Christian foundation, as a lot of times and places they would be referred to as only Goodpasture School and not Goodpasture Christian school. For him, I have maintained that whenever I reference my HS, on an app, resume, or whatever, I always reference it as GP Christian School. Like so many famous people, actors, musicians, who claim to be Christians, a lot of us, don't openly admit our beliefs, religious, political, moral. I try to never hide my beliefs or feelings just to be accepted, to move up, whatever.

Coach Baugh. For awhile after HS, I partied pretty hard and really fell away from Christ. I still have vast room for improvement, let me be clear on that. During that always though, I would try to make it to Church once in awhile. The only person I cared to wake up on Sunday after a long night of partying and listen to and be reminded of how I'm destroying my life was Coach Baugh. If he weren't a pastor, I don't think I would have made it a point to ever go to Church, but I kept a small connection to Christ and morality b/c he was.

Arnold Schwarzanegger. I read his biography not too long ago. Talk about focus, hard work, and dedication. This guy decided at 15 what he was going to do and what he was going to be. And in a country/culture that frowned upon being anything but what your parents/society expected you to be. Most of us or kids today at 15 don't give a damn about our futures, it's all about enjoying life. Arnold decided what he was going to do with his life and put a huge amount of hard work and focus into achieving this goal. He is now one of the most famous people in the entire world. I want my son to enjoy his teenage years, but I am trying to instill in him even at the age of 9 the importance of learning, hard work, making friends, and taking advantage of your younger years in order to have a good life in your later years.

That's all for now, I'd like to hear yours. If I think of anyone else, I'll ad, but I really need to do some work around the house or Karmen will get on to me.

The biggest role models I had at GHS in the classroom were Mr. Hamlett, Ms. Evans, Ms. Smith, and everyone will laugh, but Mrs. Kilpatrick. I know she wasn't the most popular. But I saw in her a woman who raised her own son, who disciplined and molded minds. It was there for the taking (and this is junior high) and I tried very hard in her class to read for content and detail, so I could remember for the tests. She gave me the English award in 8th grade and that stands out because she saw in me that I didn't cut up (too much) in class and more important, I wanted to learn.

So, then there's Mr. Hamlett. A self-made man, who carved his own body much as Arnold Schwarzenegger did, had a lot of interesting life experiences, and whose mind was like a steel trap. He taught in a fun, sometimes humorous, and interesting method and I learned much this way. I'm taking History in the fall at MTSU so go Hamlett! I still call in on his Sports show on 1510 from time to time, at least if he's still on it. I gotta tell him about my Cubs.

Next, Ms. Evans made English seem like an entrancing thing. It's my major now, and I love literature. She continued where Mrs. Head left off with Shakespeare and English lit, and introduced us to writers I had never read. That textbook beckoned to me, like "come here, Nick, here's something you can get your head into, look how fun this is." Seeing "What a scholar!" on a paper made it clear, the goal to get into college blossomed that Junior year.

Mr. Hayes and Ms. Smith are next, Mr. Hayes was proud that I was in band. Ms. Smith took me out of honors math in 11th. I worked my butt off at Pre-Calculus to get back in. I made it and she asked if I wanted to continue in AP Calculus. Sounded hard, it is hard, but I passed it in college. I wouldn't have been able to without the foundations she gave me in math.

Coach Martin realized I was injured and I told him I just couldn't play on that knee. I didn't want to not be able to run a mile when I'm 50. He told me it was my decision if I wanted to leave. I asked him where to put the pads and helmet. I cheered the team on from the sidelines and wrote about it and took photos for the newspaper. Sometimes, if you love a sport, you may not exactly be good at it. It doesn't mean you can't enjoy it anymore. After surgery, I was able to run again but the knee still bothers me. It went out in a backyard tackle football game at a church retreat, and again when I put my weight on it while slipping on water on a tile floor while mopping. It's just one of those things, what doesn't kill you makes you harder. Or smarter, or both I guess.