By Alex Henry
College football is a dream that most kids who play the sport seek to reach. From little toddlers running around playing flag football, to high school players colliding into each other, everything that athletes have learned as a player and as a person matters. One percent of high school athletes in the world make it to the collegiate level. My brother, Josh Henry, a former Western New England University football player, was part of that one percent. When asked about the steps he had to take to get there, he responded, “My passion for the game, support from coaches and family, and willingness to make sacrifices ultimately landed me at the next level.” From a star athlete in high school to being a key contributor to a three-year conference championship run, Henry cherished his moments as a Golden Bear and reflected back on his time spent on the football field, from the highs of winning a championship to the lows of losing a hard-fought game. He uses what he has learned from facing adversity on the field in his work life and approaches everything he does with a winning mentality.
Henry has learned valuable lessons and skills as a college athlete. For a young adult, athletics can develop skills that you carry for the rest of your life. Henry believed that his biggest takeaway from playing a sport in college was the ability to learn time management. Balancing school, film, and practice and making sure you save enough time to get meals during the day was very important to him. Henry stated, “Any college athlete at any level would agree with me in saying balancing class with a sport is not an easy task.” Henry took what he learned from balancing his life during his career as a Golden Bear, and as his time at the school came to a close, he reflected on his feelings heading into the workforce. “If I could balance six am lifts, three classes, two-and-a-half hour practices, and homework, then I can work my 9-5 job and make time for my family and friends,” Henry said. As someone who is now out in the real world and has a full-time job, he reflects on the importance of learning the aspect of never cutting corners. In football, this can be running through the ten-yard line and not stopping a half a yard short. “If you don’t run that extra half yard, you will come up short in life, and that is something that has really impacted my life for the better.” He believed that if you stopped half a yard short, then that half-yard will catch up to you at a crucial moment.
Applying for a job and taking that crucial step that everyone has to take after college, Henry believed he had a tremendous advantage. Being a part of a team taught him the importance of teamwork and showed him how the power of a common goad. “After college ends. and you go to apply for a job, there is one thing you will see on every job application: ‘The ability to work on a team.’” Four years of college football instantly gave him the upper hand. Henry describes being a part of a team as “life changing.” The ability to watch a bunch of strangers come together and form relationships with one another for the sole purpose of winning a game can be the same thing as a bunch of strangers coming together and forming a relationship and leaning on people’s strengths in an office setting to get a job done, Henry said. Being part of the Western New England football team has taught Henry life-long lessons he will never forget and skills that he was able to carry over into the real world. “Once a bear, always a bear,” he says.
