When It Comes Full Circle in Four Years and You Realize, "Wow, That Went Quick" - WUSAH!

Four years ago, I moved to Connecticut in hopes of building the Connecticut Writing Project-Fairfield site and to be a little closer to my cousin in Amagansett and his Hoops4Hope organization. My first year at Fairfield, I had freshmen, including Steven Johnston, in my English course. At the time, Steven wanted to play on the Stags basketball team and was given a position as watery. In that first year, I talked and mentored Steve to stay with it and by his junior year he was on the team.

Now, Steven is a senior and starts on the Stags team. He lived with integrity and proved everyone wrong with perseverance and hard work. When he was a freshman, he often visited my office and I told him about my cousin's work in Africa and his dedication for Hoops4Hope.

Yesterday, Mark was able to interview him during the halftime show at the Fairfield University Stags School game hosted on campus. It was the first of its kind and CWP-Fairfield, Fairfield Athletics and Stop&Shop Groceries brought 1,100 kids to campus to watch the lady Stags beat the St. Peter's Peacocks. We were proud supporters of Literacy4Life and proponents of reading, writing, thinking and athletics.

Witnessing Mark and Steven on the court at half time helped me to see that "if you build it, it will come." It was a proud moment, indeed.

Here's to the success of yesterday (and the recovery of today).