Marco Patierno (Football, Western Carolina University) grew up in Raleigh. HelloNation asks student athletes one question about the place that raised them and records the answer on camera. This is Marco Patierno’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 Marco Patierno’s own words. It has not been rewritten, and no part of it was drafted for them.
So, a teacher from high school that has really helped me and shaped me into who I am today would be in high school. He was more of, he was a coach. He was my linebacker's coach. His name is Coach Bethea. But he was also a teacher that helped with just kids who needed extra work or if anyone ever needed a break or to step away from the classroom, we could go into there, talk to them, do our work in there. And so, yeah, I spent a lot of time in there, and obviously he was also my linebacker's coach, like I said. And I really just, like everything that he installed into my mind, he really put me into a God-first mentality, a family-first mentality, and then school and then football. He would always say, GFEF, God, family, education, football, in that order. And that, he would say that that's the importance of life, and that's, those are the pillars that you need to have and that you need to make sure that, put God, family, education, all before football. And he would always, anytime we would go in there, ask you, how are you doing, how are you in your classes, do you need any help? And I always feel like that helped me build a personal connection with him outside of football, outside of just being my coach. And it's someone that I still text today and I still talk to and I'm real close with, and I really appreciate everything that he's taught me and installed into my mindset, and I still use it today.
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.