~From the Fields to the Classrooms~

Paul Idaho, a small town right in the middle of the farms community in Southern Idaho. Growing up we spent our days in the fields doing harvest, playing games when we weren’t tied down to the truck with mom and throwing sugar beets into a truck that were left behind from the digger. It was all about fun, and competition. You see growing up I had an older brother, he was “the best” at everything and always was nagging me to try and be as good as him at everything. He became my role model and all I wanted to do was keep up with him, throw as far as he did, ran as fast as he could, and be the best like he was. Where ever he was, I was there to. Whatever he was doing, I was attempting it myself. It set me up for the rest of my life and gave me a drive to always be and do better in anything I ever did.

Well to this day I am so competitive! I like to win and I like to be “the best” at all I do! He rubbed off on me for sure, but I am grateful because it made me who I am today. The reward is far greater than I could have ever imagined. Not only do I love sports and such, but I see the lessons that I learned from it all. It wasn’t to beat him; it was for my own personal growth and development. It was to help me work hard and to accomplish and do hard things that I didn’t think possible. For the majority of the time we grow up together we were active and engaged in doing things, not sitting around. I developed a love for watching others grow and develop their own self worth through physical activities. It does not have to be a major sport, but in any skill that teaches them to learn and practice and grow. They will be engaged with others in my discipline area and will learn team building skills, leadership skills, work ethic, and so much more from this discipline and be able to use it in all aspects of their lives.

For me it started in the beet fields in Idaho. It has taken me farther than I ever imagined and I am far from done learning and growing. I want to simply help others get out and become someone that they are capable of becoming. They have every opportunity to learn how to work and to become someone great by learning life skills through the physical education program. I know that I am who I am today because of the opportunities I have been given, and I want to share them with as many students as I can in hopes that they can find joy and happiness throughout their lives in whatever they chose to do. “This life is to be enjoy, not just endured.”