WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

00:00:02.285 --> 00:00:04.070
[PIANO PLAYING]

00:00:04.900 --> 00:00:06.890
Piano playing is like
systems engineering.

00:00:06.890 --> 00:00:09.440
The way you systematically
approach your song,

00:00:09.440 --> 00:00:10.790
you learn it in pieces.

00:00:10.790 --> 00:00:13.760
Same as systems engineering, you
look at a problem holistically.

00:00:13.760 --> 00:00:17.170
How can I tackled this best
to make it most efficient?

00:00:17.170 --> 00:00:19.610
Well I graduated in 2009.

00:00:19.610 --> 00:00:22.220
I was number eight in
my high school class.

00:00:22.220 --> 00:00:26.190
So I came here, and I wasn't
doing well in my classes.

00:00:26.190 --> 00:00:29.240
I didn't know how to study,
how to learn effectively.

00:00:29.240 --> 00:00:32.144
Then I got a phone call,
and my father was sick.

00:00:32.144 --> 00:00:34.310
And I was like, OK, he's
sick, he's in the hospital,

00:00:34.310 --> 00:00:35.480
it happens.

00:00:35.480 --> 00:00:37.250
And then I got another
phone call saying

00:00:37.250 --> 00:00:38.824
that he might not make it.

00:00:38.824 --> 00:00:39.740
And he didn't make it.

00:00:39.740 --> 00:00:42.290
He passed on my way home.

00:00:42.290 --> 00:00:44.750
I decided to come back,
and I tried really hard.

00:00:44.750 --> 00:00:47.660
And I tried to find
a way to belong,

00:00:47.660 --> 00:00:48.680
and cope with that loss.

00:00:48.680 --> 00:00:51.560
So I walked onto the track
team, tried out, made it.

00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:54.470
Second year, me and track
really didn't work out.

00:00:54.470 --> 00:00:56.400
So I walked onto
the football team.

00:00:56.400 --> 00:01:00.980
Fall of my third year,
in October, I tore my ACL

00:01:00.980 --> 00:01:02.410
and meniscus.

00:01:02.410 --> 00:01:03.977
So I was like, what do I do now?

00:01:03.977 --> 00:01:05.060
I have to make a decision.

00:01:05.060 --> 00:01:07.430
Do I put all this extra
time, and get my leg better,

00:01:07.430 --> 00:01:09.860
and be an athlete, and
chase my dream of going pro?

00:01:09.860 --> 00:01:13.010
Or do I focus on my academics?

00:01:13.010 --> 00:01:16.190
And I felt like
focusing on my academics

00:01:16.190 --> 00:01:20.240
would help me to be a better
son, a better brother, to help

00:01:20.240 --> 00:01:21.710
take care of my family.

00:01:21.710 --> 00:01:25.160
I decided to focus
on internships,

00:01:25.160 --> 00:01:27.790
preparing for my
professional career.

00:01:27.790 --> 00:01:30.320
I had to really
look deep, really

00:01:30.320 --> 00:01:34.770
reflect on what makes me
me, my value as a person.

00:01:34.770 --> 00:01:36.510
And my answer was my character.

00:01:36.510 --> 00:01:39.410
When I think about honor,
I think about someone

00:01:39.410 --> 00:01:40.940
who gives to others.

00:01:40.940 --> 00:01:42.567
That's what being
human is about.

00:01:42.567 --> 00:01:44.150
The biggest lesson
that I learned here

00:01:44.150 --> 00:01:46.160
was how to struggle,
not necessarily that I'm

00:01:46.160 --> 00:01:47.210
like so much smarter.

00:01:47.210 --> 00:01:50.300
I did learn how to study,
and learn how to learn.

00:01:50.300 --> 00:01:53.560
But I learned how to overcome.