Sam Regez (Track & Field (Outdoor), University of Portland) grew up in Santa Clarita. HelloNation asks student athletes one question about the place that raised them and records the answer on camera. This is Sam Regez’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 Sam Regez’s own words. It has not been rewritten, and no part of it was drafted for them.
Hi, I'm Sam Riguez. I'm a track athlete at the University of Portland, and a teacher slash mentor that really helped me in high school was my head cross-country coach, Coach George Velarde. I did not start running until I was a senior in high school, and being somebody from an athletic background, I played basketball and baseball throughout my entire childhood and going into high school, I had really wanted to continue on in college. And when I did this big sports shift, I kind of considered that my last chance to really continue doing this in college or continue doing this at least after high school, recreationally, semi-competitively, or so on. And while I had an alright time, I had a great experience, I didn't run the best, I wasn't the greatest athlete of all time, he was very adamant, and as somebody who had seen it all, he was very adamant that I should not stop doing so. If I enjoyed it, and I felt drive to do it and get better at it, I should continue doing it, regardless of how I was performing, regardless of how I felt I had a future in the sport, whether or not I felt I had a future in the sport, but I should keep going. And I did, I continued running in community college, I continued running for a couple years in community college, and eventually all the hard work stacked up and I made my way here, but that wouldn't have happened had I not had that voice in my ear and on my shoulder, who was reliable and who had the experience to back it up telling me that I should continue doing so.
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.