A Letter to My Younger Self
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As I lay across my bed watching the 2004 NFL draft, having my own “pity party”, I suddenly realized that I had grown accustomed to this annual ritual of mourning a career, my dream of playing in the NFL. Let me be very clear- I love my family and I would not trade them for anything but, THE DREAM, MY DREAM, that first began when I was eight years old was no longer. This dream that lasted until I was 26 years of age, I was still mourning years later. Enough. That’s what I told myself. Even just once a year, enough! You have got to move on! Stop wondering about what you could have done better or different or more of that could have increased your chances or opportunity to play in the NFL. Enough. It was at that moment that I asked GOD, “How can I stay involved in athletics and help other promising student athletes avoid what I was feeling at that moment.” I took a long hard look at the choices that I had made from the time that I signed my letter of intent to play at The University of Texas at El Paso in February of 1983, on up to my moment of saying, enough. Have you ever asked yourself, “How did I end up here? What led me to this place that I now find myself?” Choices and Consequences. You can make the choices but, you can’t choose the consequences that come along with them. They are built into, attached to each and every choice. So, after looking at, and performing what seemed to be a very prolonged self-evaluation, I walked away from the mirror and from that moment on things changed. First and fore-most my mindset changed. The second thing, the vision for S.T.A.T.S., Student Athlete Transition Symposium was given to me as a way to stay involved with athletics and to be a positive influence in student athletes lives. STATS mission is to help student athletes make the transition from high school to college, college and beyond. Our aim is to be a part of building a well- balanced student athlete. STATS, is your practice squad! We want to bring awareness to how easily character is easier kept than recovered.
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About the Book
This book is a collection of letters from ex-student athletes giving advice to their younger selves about making their transition from high school to college and beyond. It is through these letters, as they communicate with their younger selves, that present student athletes will be able to relate to their stories and gain insight and understanding of what it takes to succeed in this phase of life as a student athlete. Many of us are away from home for the first time, and we are still being shaped and learning who we are as individuals. This book is to bring about awareness and to inspire student athletes and students to strive to be and do their best. Imagine how much frustration could be avoided if we were to learn from each other’s life lessons. Who better to speak to your younger self than you?
About the Author
My name is Robert Bouvier Murray, and I am fifty-two years of age. My wife, Michelle, of twenty-six years and I have three daughters, Chimelle, Payje, and Mia. I have two grandsons, Josiah, age seven, and Kolton, age one. I played football at the University of Texas at El Paso, and I am the founder and president of Student Athlete Transition Symposium, or STATS. STATS is a program I began a few years ago that consists of ex-student athletes who mentor and talk to present student athletes about their transition from high school to college and beyond so that it may be a successful one through enlightening them with our own life stories as student athletes in high school and college. I have a God-given mandate and a passion to see students and student athletes succeed in the classroom and in their competitive sport.