Decisions Determine Destiny And So Do Accidents

I was 17-years-old when I jumped to catch a pass in football practice at Beaver High School in Beaver, Utah. Yes that's right I was a Beaver, Beaver! In the quarter of a second it took me to jump and catch the pass a teammate wanted his moment of glory and speared me mid-back.

After my junior year of high school I had grand hopes of having an excellent senior season in football and getting a scholarship or walking on to a college team to play. Those dreams abruptly ended when Daniel Carter made that life-altering tackle.

His hit whiplashed my head to the rear and it felt like my neck bent enough for the back of my helmet to touch my jersey. A flash of stars flooded my brain and I hit the ground like a sledge hammer. I managed to hold onto the football of which I was proud of but that did not change the fact that I had fractured three vertebrae in the upper part of my back. I would not find this out for 15 years however when a wise chiropractor decided to take some X-Rays.

I managed to get off the ground and walk to the sidelines. Something told me to go to the doctor, and I told my father, but we decided against it. My dad was afraid of paying out of pocket expenses for doctor's visits if he thought there was a chance of the visit being useless and I thought it was just a concussion.

I did have a concussion and so I sat out for three games which took away any hopes of a scholarship. The miraculous thing was that I started the season on the fourth game and played in the remaining 6 or 7 games. I contribute the quick healing to the health conscious food in my home, the weight training I loved and divine intervention.

That injury inspired me to think of alternatives to a college football career but I did not figure it out myself. I had some help from a friend name Erland Lewis who asked me one day at school in September of 1996 if I wanted to come to his home to talk to some Marine Corps recruiters. I told him I would and showed up at his home with another friend on the agreed upon night.

After the recruiters talked so highly of the Marines and showed us some motivational highlight videos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inSzBLaTiNI) of the cool things Marines get to do, I was hooked and decided then and there that I was joining the Marine Corps. I would have to wait a whole year before going to boot camp but my motivation stayed high the entire time.

Opposition has a funny way of getting us to where our lives need to take us if we roll with the punches.

Quote of the day: "Opposition always inflames the enthusiast, never converts him." Friedrich Schiller https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Schiller