For week three of the #WALKMYWORLD project I put together a brief trailer from my time playing rugby. After the urging of Molly Shields, and after some emails with Kristy Pytash, I decided that I wanted to push myself and dig a bit deeper into the project. Additionally, I was intrigued by a comment from one of Molly’s students in which she indicated that we could look to the past for the content we share. Inspired by these thoughts, I indicated that I would be going on a “personal journey in the public.” I’ve decided that instead of posting random photos or videos from my “walk” everyday…I’ll be taking a different path. Each week I’ll use this opportunity to look into my past and share a “walk” in my “world” with my three year old son Jax. I’ll use these 10 weeks to document for him events from my past that I believe have shaped me up to this point. I’ll share this in public…but this is primarily for my son.

For week three I’m sharing some of what Rugby did for me. I’ve told others (and I believe it to be true) that rugby saved my life. I played a bit in college…more or less I was a tackling dummy. It wasn’t until I started teaching did I start playing full-time to lose weight and make friends. During my time playing rugby I went through a series of life changes. I blew out my ACL. I shattered my face playing one day. Who would have know that you could jam your collarbone just like you jam a finger…and boy did it hurt. I suffered a litany of other bangs, bruises, contusions, etc. I routinely showed up to teach 8th grade with a black eye, or on crutches.

Despite these trials and tribulations, I gained a lot from playing. I gained a series of life-long friends. One of my best friends is godfather to my son. I met my Wife through another friend from the team. Finally, I’m part of a larger “family” through rugby. I can commiserate and share war stories from the past. I’ve also tried to “pay it forward” by supporting youth rugby. I did a lot to start up a boys and girls U-19 rugby team in the area. Rugby saved my life. I want to make this possible for others.

Below you’ll find the video for this week.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djUiLdj17nQ&feature=youtu.be