Enjoy The Ride

During my academic career, I had a lot of great teachers that I remember but when I think back on school, I think first of Mr. Mooney’s English class. When I was a sophomore in high school, it was a rite of passage to have a particular English teacher and I was actually looking forward to that teacher.  This person was the school’s old track coach and I was a runner so naturally he liked me.  I figured I’d even get a little favoritism that year and I always liked English so it seemed like a win/win for me.  However, when I got my schedule, I realized that somehow, I didn’t get that particular teacher but rather for English, I was one of only two classes that had Mr. Mooney as a teacher.  At first I was disappointed.  Mr. Mooney was the first ever high school teacher I had because he was my homeroom moderator and he was the school’s basketball coach but even though I thought he was nice, I hadn’t heard anything about his classes.  I really had no idea what to expect. 

What he was was the man who introduced me to some of the great writers that I have grown to love and respect.  He had us read Salinger and Fitzgerald and it was that year that I decided I wanted to be a writer.  More importantly, he was the teacher who wouldn’t let me hid in the background.  In high school, I was shy and very comfortable going days without saying a word in class if I didn’t have to.  I didn’t want to be called on and I especially didn’t want to be singled out, not because I didn’t know the answers but because I didn’t want anyone to know I was there.  It’s harder to be judged or picked on if no one knows your there.  Most teachers paid me no mind but Mr. Mooney, who insisted on calling me “The Rock”, refused to let me just sit there and blend into the scenery which ultimately made me enjoy his class more than any other I had that year.  He treated us like real people in a school filled with teachers who were constantly reminding us that we were nothing more than children.  I could never have imagined that years later, my favorite teacher would still be teaching me valuable life lessons. 

As I watched the Richmond Spiders defeat the Morehead State Eagles today, I watched a completely different basketball game than most people.  Most people watched the Spiders advance to sweet sixteen of the NCAA Tournament but what I saw was Mr. Mooney, the guy who made such an impact on high school career, realize his dreams.  15 years ago, he was my first high school teacher and now there he was on CBS giving post game interviews and coaching a team that will hopefully write a Cinderella story for this year’s tournament. 

I’m happy for Mr. Mooney getting his win today and I hope that he will write a fairly tale that will live on forever in college basketball history but no matter what happens next week or beyond, it’s still nice to see that dreams really can come true.  Today, when the CBS announcers said that Chris Mooney started his career as a high school coach, I realized that it’s not about where you start, it’s about the road you take to get there.  More than likely we don’t get to have our dreams and achievements right out of the gate just because we want them but it is because we want them that will keep us moving forward towards them.  We are all meant to do great things, but we can’t forget to enjoy all the great things we do along the way to achieving our dreams.  We have to remember to enjoy the ride.

"Dreams are today's answers to tomorrow's questions." - Edgar Cayce