Dear Coach Wilburn,
Not sure if you would remember me, but I was in your 4th, 5th and 6th grade gym classes about 22 years ago. I was the student that thought you’d lost your mind when you made me do push-ups. Remember my half-hearted, bellyaching attempts to do even one?
Okay, I’m sure I wasn’t the first.
Maybe you remember my complaining about volleyball? I hated that game. I didn’t want to get hit in the face. Of course, I adored war ball where I was supposed to get hit in the face.
Yeah, okay, I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only student that did that.
Maybe you remember my Field Day performances. I was the one who always got the green participation ribbon right up until the 6th grade when I killed myself to come in second and first in two different sprints.
Again, I’m thinking that’s not enough data. I remember, I was the girl with the black eye that got into a fight over something I didn’t do. You made the guy who hit me run laps for weeks on end?
Still no dice?
Okay, well let’s just say I was your student about 22 years ago at L.L. Hotchkiss in Dallas. You were my Coach and my Science teacher. You gave me my first glimpse of the space program and told me that I could do anything if I put my mind to it. You were the first one to tell me that if I kept telling myself I couldn’t do it, and then yeah, I probably wouldn’t do it. You were the one who told me to put my money where my mouth was and to learn how to spell ATTEMPT, TRY and MAKE IT after I won the spelling bee because that was what I needed to do to succeed in physical education.
You were the coach that taught me it didn’t matter how ‘weak’ everyone else said I was, if I kept saying it, I would make it true. You were the one who told me I was only as strong as I thought I was. You were there when I did 100 sit-ups in fifteen minutes. You were there when I did 50 push-ups in the same amount of time.
You were the one who helped me pass the Presidential Fitness Challenge and then turned around and showed me that science could be interesting, especially when I looked from the stars to the seas to the human body that I possessed.
I may never have shown that I got it and I may never have stopped whining about having to sweat, but you were there for me and your advice stuck with me, even 22 years later. I’m strong. I’m capable. I can attempt many things. I can try my best. I can make it work.
Thanks Coach Wilburn. Just wanted to let you know that while I still complain about working out and getting sweaty, I really like it now. But oddly enough, I prefer volleyball to war ball – go figure!
Thanks a lot! You’re a great teacher,
Heather Long