Brooklyn Chavis (Soccer, Southeastern Louisiana University) grew up in Houston. HelloNation asks student athletes one question about the place that raised them and records the answer on camera. This is Brooklyn Chavis’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 Brooklyn Chavis’s own words. It has not been rewritten, and no part of it was drafted for them.
In high school here in Houston, the teacher who challenged me the most was my junior year English teacher, Mrs. Delgado. She didn't just grade points, she tore into them. Every weak argument, every lazy sentence got marked up in red with questions like, why should anyone care or prove it? I used to leave her class frustrated thinking she was too hard, but she never let me settle for the surface level thinking. One day after class, she pulled me aside and said, you're capable of more than just getting by. Stop writing what you think I want to hear and write what you actually believe. That stuck with me. The lesson I carry is this, real growth only happens when someone refuses to let you stay comfortable. Mrs. Delgado taught me that push past each easy answer to own my ideas and to keep refining them until they're solid. Whether I'm in a tough conversation, a job interview, or just deciding what kind of person I want to be, I still hear her voice telling me to dig deeper. That's the standard I hold myself to now, and I'm grateful she said it.
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.