I believe I’ve only written two recommendation letters in my life.. One for Abbie Cline and this one. When people ask me why I spend my evenings and weekends training kids when the pharmacy profession is so much more lucrative, the answer is simple.. Where else can you learn from kids like these two?
Recommendation For Cassidy Downs at EIU
I first met Cassidy Downs almost 4 years ago when her mom brought her to my office to be interviewed for my summer basketball camp. The interview lasted a little over 20 minutes, and Cassidy failed to utter more than 10 words. She was full of sheepish smiles and yes’s. Needless to say, that’s not the kind of interview that makes impressions, especially considering the “me, me, me” attitude that sports have become. Basketball is physical, intense, and ripe with attitude. A player too humble to boast is a rarity, and often mistakenly seen as too timid to be good. Yet, as soon as she left, I told my wife Cassidy is exactly the kind of person I want in my program.
There’s a lot I can say about Cassidy that would make her the ideal candidate for a scholarship. In fact, of all the athletes I’ve met over the last 4 years, I can’t think of any athlete that would be a better representation for your scholarship. However, like Cassidy, I won’t boast. Instead, I’ll talk only about one of her many, many great qualities. It’s the one quality that’s so rare in young people these days that it gives me 100% confidence that Cassidy will succeed in life. It’s called grit, and Cassidy has plenty of it.
To say Cassidy was a complete success on the basketball court would be a lie. There were games when she didn’t score a point. In fact, there were quite a few games when you could count her points on one hand. A lesser individual would have given up. Yet, Cassidy marched on. She came to every session we had, even sessions that took place 30 minutes after her 2 hour practices with her team. She showed up on Friday nights, Saturdays, and Sundays. If we opened the gym, Cassidy was there no matter if she had the worst or best game of her life the night before. Imagine the perseverance she had? Failing over and over and over again, publicly nonetheless, and yet not even entertaining the thought of quitting. She had grit, and she had a lot of it.
How often do you see that in today’s society? Today, we’re coddled from birth. Everyone is a winner, and everyone deserves a trophy. Parents have created “perfect” children that never fail. In fact, failure has almost been ostercized from our society. It’s looked at as an inadequacy in our DNA. But it’s not. It’s God’s greatest teaching tool. In fact, it’s the only avenue that leads to excellence. Cassidy understands what most adults and almost all young athletes don’t – failure shouldn’t stop you; it should propel you. As Thomas Edison said, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” That’s grit.
In August my wife and I welcomed our first child into the world. Her name is Taber. And guess what the first thing I said to my wife on the car ride home from the hospital? I hope she’s a lot like Cassidy.
