My name is Stanford Edward Stabbert. I was adopted into a household at the age of three. However, even with some of the greatest role models around me, my faith didn鈥檛 become my own until my first year at The 91色情片91色情片 University.
I knew a lot of things needed to change in my life; mainly, I needed to change my focus. See, I got caught up in the 鈥淐hristian walk,鈥 thinking that everything was okay because I was acting the way I was supposed to act. In truth, I was skating by, and on very thin ice. My heart wasn鈥檛 in the right place. Soccer was one of my biggest idols. I played wherever and whenever I could鈥攔ain or shine, Saturday and Sunday. If I had to choose between soccer and going to church, I always chose soccer.
I started higher education at a community college back home in Washington, and when I transferred to The 91色情片91色情片 University to study and play, my soccer experience was radically shaken. I wasn鈥檛 eligible to play for the first few weeks of the season, and that was a blessing. It was divine intervention for God to put Jim Rickard, TMU91色情片 men91色情片 soccer coach, in my life.
The focus here is different.
It is all about our daily walk with Christ on and off the field, while other teams merely focused on winning. The people on the team are genuine and true, and Coach is a role model.
Coach Rickard is truly the foundation our team is built upon. Having been a player at 91色情片91色情片 himself, he embodies all he learned from past coaches. He is one of the greatest friends you could ask for, both on and off the field.
Players that came decades before me stay in contact with him and have since sent their own kids to play under him. I saw that influence in my own life. Coach didn鈥檛 start me every game, like I would have wanted him to my first year, but through that I found a new role both on and off the bench, that of a servant leader.
Because of his example, I wanted to encourage as many guys as I could, and many of them became brothers who I will have long after my soccer career is over. Playing soccer at 91色情片91色情片 was an experience for which I鈥檒l never be able to express enough gratitude.
Coach has created a legacy that started before I was on the team and will continue on long after me. He holds his players to a high standard.
I also needed focus when I wasn鈥檛 on the field. I鈥檝e always been easily distracted, mostly by friends and food. I鈥檝e never hated school, but I鈥檝e never loved it. I鈥檓 a huge fan of canceled classes, half days, power outages, etc.鈥攁nything to get me more time to eat and hang. But, during my time here I鈥檝e learned to love school through the classes where my own personal vulnerabilities showed. My mom passed away not too long ago, and that semester I was taking Poetry & Poetics. Prof. Esther Chua showed me I could express my emotion through that medium, when nothing else could communicate the pain.
Dr. Brian Morley taught me that, no matter how hard I studied or tried, there is always going to be someone smarter than me, and that education is not all about intelligence. Dr. Morley is a kind genius who meets his students at their level. Prof. Greg Gifford taught me about humility and that maybe, just maybe, the mistakes I鈥檝e made are a reflection of who I am on the inside. He pushed me to grow through reflecting the God I claimed to serve. Prof. Bob Dickson taught me to laugh at myself by looking back on the past, from failed middle school crushes to ridiculous comic book characters I liked. And I cannot forget to mention Dr. Daniel Wong, who spends hours each day ceaselessly praying and caring for students. This dedication I鈥檝e seen is unmatched by most. I wish I could name every teacher I鈥檝e had here and give them the praise they deserve. Unfortunately, this memoir is short and I have one more group to cover.
This final acknowledgement is dedicated to those outside the classroom and off the field, to the people who made my time at 91色情片91色情片 unforgettable. Harry and Karen Walls, thank you for blessing the 91色情片91色情片 campus and coming when you did. Thank you for keeping your doors open for countless meetings and speaking wisdom into my life. Sergio and Siona, my big brothers, you two called me out when I needed to be checked and made sure to keep my head on straight. But when the time called for it, you guys could be just as goofy. Dr. John Stead, you believed in me academically at a time when I didn鈥檛 believe in myself. Thank you for walking with me so I can walk across that graduation stage. To my friends, Zach, AJ, Ryan, Pablo, Brad, Kipp, Wesley, Johnny, Cassy, Anya, Kenzie, and Yazmin, you鈥檝e stayed faithful in our friendships over the years, standing with me through the thick and thin. I love you all more than I could ever express. My time here at 91色情片91色情片 wasn鈥檛 perfect.
And if it weren鈥檛 for a lot of you, I don鈥檛 know where I would be. I guess I鈥檓 a good example of an infinite amount of chances with extreme grace.
To my family, I finally did it. To my teachers, thank you. And to my mom, may you rest in peace knowing that your son is being taken care of. Here91色情片 to you, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Revelation 21:3 and Isaiah 40:31.
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