Future-Proofing You

7Don't Fly Solo: Finding the Right Mentor for Each Phase of Your Career

Had there not been you, there never would have been me.

—Oprah Winfrey speaking to her mentor Barbara Walters

AT 14, HE AND HIS SINGLE mom got evicted from their apartment. By 16, the directionless high school student had multiple arrests on his record and was a loner with no friends or girlfriends. At 220 pounds, he was a tough teen with a chip on his shoulder and no future. One day at school, knowing he was too big for anyone to stop, the troublemaker decided he was going to use the teachers' bathroom. “I'm washing my hands, a guy walks in, and he goes, ‘Hey, you can't be in here,’ very stern. I was a punk at that time, I looked at him like, ‘Yeah, alright in a second.’ He screams, ‘Hey, you get the fuck outta here!’ He was bright red, veins everywhere. I kind of walked by him, brushed my shoulder by him.”

“That night I went home, I felt bad, I knew I acted like a punk,” the former high school punk continued. “I went to find him the next day and said, ‘Hey, I just want to apologize to you, I'm sorry for being so rude,’ and I just apologized and I stuck my hand out to him. He grabbed my hand, he shook it, he held onto it, he said, ‘I appreciate your apology, I want you to play football for me,’ and I went, ‘OK.’ ”

Freedom High football coach Jodi Swick continued to mentor the young man all the way to being one of the most sought‐after and recruited players in the history of the school. Thanks to Swick's ...