I Beat the Odds_ From Homelessness, to the Blind Side, and Beyond - Michael Oher [58]
Her new job involved working with a number of athletes, including a number of my teammates, and everyone else loved her as much as I did. She really cared about us. We weren't just a job for her. She was excited for us and cared about how we did in the classroom and on the field, but she also cared about how our lives were going. She knew if someone broke up with his girl-friend or if someone was struggling with a bad family situation.
Miss Sue's investment in us was one we took seriously. We were all amazed by her patience and we felt her real concern for us. I know that her other student-athletes worked harder for her because they didn't want to let her down. No one likes to disappoint the people they love, and just the few hours we spent with her each week made it clear that she loved us all. (She loved me best, though!)
I KNOW THAT THERE WILL ALWAYS BE PEOPLE who think that the extra courses I took to help raise my high school GPA were a lame excuse for making up classes I failed the first time around. There are other people who will always be convinced that I am just a dumb football player who only graduated from Briarcrest because I had a lot of people helping to pull me along because they wanted to get me into college. All I can say in response to that is, look at my academic record while at Ole Miss. I wasn't just squeaking by with the minimum GPA--twice I made the dean's list. It's amazing how a life can turn around with some encouragement, some support, and someone willing to say, "I believe you CAN do what you've set your mind on doing."
Miss Sue is a huge part of my success because she helped me believe that I could do what so many people around me seemed to think I couldn't. She also goes to show that you don't have to just put a roof over a kid's head to make a difference in his life. There are other needs that have to be met, too, and she dedicated her own life to helping kids improve theirs.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Rebel with a Cause
When college coaches started showing up to recruit me, I couldn't believe that it was all starting to happen for me. So many things in my life had been such a disappointment that to suddenly find myself in a loving family that cared about my dreams and were committed to helping me reach them--it was almost too much. But as college began to become a reality for me, I still had to prove that I had the ability to do the schoolwork. I clearly had the drive, will, and discipline--I'd demonstrated that through my long hours of studying, homework, and extra coursework. But I still wanted to prove not only to myself but to everyone who had stepped up to help me that I had what it took to succeed.
One of the big fears coaches seemed to have was that I wouldn't be able to read and understand the playbook, because I had required so much extra work to help bring up my GPA. That kind of made me laugh because while I might have struggled with school and had to learn how to succeed in the classroom, I knew sports. I may not have spent much time poring over the various plays by name, but I understood strategy. I think that became clear the more the coaches watched me play.
When I finally decided to become an Ole Miss Rebel, it was like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I couldn't believe that in just a few short years I had gone from being a kid who was struggling to figure out how he would be able to get into a junior college to a kid who had a lot of major schools recruiting him and offering scholarships. And I really, really liked a couple of the schools I visited--I liked their coaches and their teams and how I felt when I was on their campus. It was such a tough decision.
By that point, I realized that God had blessed me and blessed my life with not just talent but people who were willing to help me develop that talent into something great. When it came down to the final couple of schools, I prayed about my choice a lot because there didn't