Hendrick Ramirez (Track & Field (Outdoor), Oklahoma City University) grew up in El Paso. HelloNation asks student athletes one question about the place that raised them and records the answer on camera. This is Hendrick Ramirez’s, in full.
The question
Tell us about a teacher or mentor from high school who challenged you the most or inspired you in a way that still shapes who you are today. Who are they, and what lesson from them do you carry into your life now?
The answer, as recorded
Transcript. What follows is a transcript of the video above, in Hendrick Ramirez’s own words. It has not been rewritten, and no part of it was drafted for them.
So my old soccer coach, my old mentor, my old teacher named Coach Nick was a very inspiring person. I remember sometimes he would say, although I was pretty quick myself, he always said it's not always about speed. It's about where you can be at the right time and being aware at where you should be at a certain time in a play so you can be there when the ball comes. And I always think about how the ball goes everywhere. But yet, if you can recognize a certain pattern, you're kind of able to tell the future. If you recognize the ball's gonna go there, come back there, come right back over here, and then end up where you're at. But just be right where you expected it to be. And that can bring you a lot of success. And I've always thought about that in life, about how sometimes you have to get lucky. Sometimes you have to be at the right spot. But you also have to be aware of your surroundings, aware of where you should be or where you should possibly go. Although there is no one right route, there is no one specific way that should be done. But as long as you're doing it and working, recognizing the pattern, soon you would be able to tell the future. And I know it sounds so cliche, but isn't it supposed to sound cliche? Those things that are repeatedly told to you about how hard work beats talent when talent is not working. Those cliche things. Yes, they're cheesy, but when you start just repeating those things, they start becoming you. And it sounds so cliche because it's a repeated action that brings you success. And that always just stuck with me, trying to be at the right spot at the right time. So I tried not to be complacent and stay in one spot. Just try to keep on moving and hoping, just hoping I'm going to be at the right spot sometime. And sometimes it's not about speed, like you said. It's not about working the fastest, doing the most, but about where you can be at a certain time. The quality, I guess. And it also reminds me of just trying to have a vision. Just envisioning where could things possibly be and working towards it. That's always just stuck with me. And I've always appreciated him for talking to me, speaking to me a certain way, as he would with every individual, to capture this perspective he was trying to proclaim on us. And he's done a very well job. Thank you for listening.
Recorded by HelloNation as part of its athlete voices program and published by Hello Newswire, HelloNation’s good news newswire. The words are the speaker’s own.
Reported by Hello Newswire.