My Life Goals!!

There are many goals that one can have in life. They can be present goals, short term goals, and long term goals. When people go through life they gather up and set plans for everything they set out to do in life. Most goals are health related such as losing 10 pounds or eating healthy. The best time of year to make goals, long or short term, are at the beginning of the year. New Year resolutions are very important to have although most people end up not following through with them. This year I made a list for myself that had some new short term goals as well as long term goals.

There are several goals I have for the short term. The biggest goal I set for myself for this semester is getting all A’s and B’s. To make it simple, I want to end the semester with a 3.0 or better. My freshman year, I came out on top with a 3.3 GPA and got the Fantastic Freshman award. It was the best semester of my life and everything was going great for me. The next three semesters went downhill for me as I fell into peer pressure and started partying and doing things I wasn’t used to growing up. After nearly not being able to come back this year because of financial aid trouble as well as a low accumulative GPA, it opened my eyes to want to be like my old self again. Getting my financials straightened out way ahead of time is something new I want to do as a short term goal. Twice I have filled out my FAFSA past the deadline and ended up having to take out loans for those semesters. My college career could be free if I get my paperwork done early!

After I graduate, my number one goal is to find me a good, rewarding job that will have a steady salary.  Having a wife and kids is a must as well! I’m the oldest of nine kids so I’ve been a part of a very big family growing up. It’s funny because as I grew up I always thought that nine kids was crazy and I told myself that I would never have a lot of kids so I said I would have one kid and that’s it. Looking back on my childhood, I missed all those times we would all go out to Chuck E. Cheese or just have those simple family movies where we would all get together in the living room with our blankets and watch a movie. I never know what I will have one of these days only God knows but I would love to have three boys and one girl. I guess you can say I changed my mind when it comes to kids in the future! Ha!

When I get to be about age 45, hopefully my kids will have graduated high school and have gone off to college to get them a degree. The biggest dream I have growing up is to see my future kids succeed in life and become the way I am. If I have the privilege to live a very long life, those would be my goals I would like to accomplish.

As you can see I have very big dreams ahead of me. I have all the support in the world and I feel like nothing can stop me if I keep my mind to it! With the help and support of my family, girlfriend, friends, coaches, teachers and counselors…. my goals will become a reality!

Peer Pressure!

This is something I promised myself I’d never do while attending Gallaudet… fall into peer pressure. It’s a natural part of life really, people will always try to convince you to do something you’re not used to doing. People give in so they can feel like they fit in the group. This is very unhealthy because people nowadays are willing to do just about anything just to fit in a group and feel respected. I have a ton of amazing friends but last year, sophomore year, I fell into peer pressure when it came to drinking and partying. This is something I grew up not doing growing up so it was very disappointing. I’m a football player so most of the guys that I hang out with are on the football team too. We have guys on the team that are cocky and think they’re bigger and better than most people on campus. Those are the guys that influenced me to finally have my first taste of alchohol. It was weird at first because of course i’m not used to it but also because I was known as the only athlete that was innocent and didn’t do that kind of thing.

After hanging out with those guys more and more, I started drifting away from who I really was and started partying more and drinking. This pulled my gpa down from a 3.3 to a 2.1. I’ve experienced things that i’ve never experienced before! I’m not going to lie, some of it was fun. But when I take a step back and look at the whole picture, I didn’t like who I was. I was falling away from who I was raised to be and I was failing in school. I went from a Fantastic Freshman candidate my first year to a party boy who didn’t do good in school. Last semester was embarrasing for me as my cumulative gpa dropped to a 2.1 gpa. This opened my eyes because I came .2 points away from not being able to participate in spring football for my senior year. After going home for this recent Christmas, I did a lot of hard thinking and planning for what I wanted to do for this spring semester. My new year resolutions this year is to quit drinking completely like my freshman year, workout 5 days a week and look better for spring break and summer, and pull up my cumulative gpa above a 2.5. I’m very determined to making all of my goals and plans in life happen and if they’re going to happen, it will start with this semester! So far i’m on track and doing very good! This semester i’m going back to the old Ryan Mahoney from freshman year! Maybe not sooooo innocent like before but you know what I mean! ha

Valentine’s Day 2011!

SOOO…. i’m finally not spending this day alone! I met the single most amazing girl i’ve ever met my second week on campus after school started back in the recent August 2010. I met this girl named Britny Latham while hanging out in one of my friend’s room playing video games and hanging out after practice one day. Britny is an athlete for the Gallaudet Women’s Basketball team and is a big difference maker for the bison. When I first met her, I was playing UFC Ultimate Fighter with my friend in his dorm room in the Benson Hall dorm when she came in to introduce herself to the guys that she hasn’t met yet. Upon meeting her, I was a little shell-shocked because of her appearance! She came wearing athletic shorts, basketball shoes, a cutoff shirt, she had an ipod in one hand with big headphones wrapping her ears and in the other hand she had a basketball, on top of that she had a thin headband wrapped around her forehead. She was the ultimate baller and when I first saw her I was thinking to myself “Dang she’s pretty but she’s definitely a tom-boy!”

After introducing myself to her and her introducing herself to me, she left the room and I never thought I’d speak with her again. I imagined in my head later that day what it would be like if I dated her. I haven’t really dated anyone serious growing up because I was shy so it was mostly imagining for me. After talking with her more and getting to know her I finally asked her out. I didn’t have a lot of money so I simply asked her if she wanted to go to the SAC building on a movie night one Saturday evening. After texting and flirting all night, she finally told me that she thinks she likes me! I never in my wildest dreams thought this beautiful girl would ever go for me!

We’ve been together for 5 and a half amazing months so far! We spent Valentine’s Day on campus and didn’t do much because again, I didn’t have any money. I still wanted to show her that I loved her so I bought her a card from the Bison Store on campus and cut out about 200 small red hearts using construction paper. I spread the hearts all over the table in my room and put the card laying down in some of the hearts. I bought two very pretty roses and put them together in a cup of water. The best of all, I had a night light that shined right behind the roses so it looked very dim and romantic. After she came into my room blindfolded with my hands, she finally saw what I spent several hours on! Following her seeing that and reading my amazingly touching card, we danced to a slow Kenny Chesney that always brings us to tears. It was one the most amazing nights i’ve spent with Britny.

Most people think that you need to buy a lot of different things for your loved ones but really, it’s the thought that counts. The one thing that matters is what comes from the heart! Me and her did something very simple with a card exchange and a couple roses and a dance. All it takes is a little creativity and you have yourself a romantic Valentine’s Day!

Facebook and College… uh not good!

This is a VERY interesting topic when it comes to college students. Anyone who has a facebook account knows this, when you’re in college and you have a facebook, it just doesn’t help you as a student! Since making myself a facebook my senior year of high school, it’s been very nice to connect with friends and family and interact with people no matter where I am. It’s become my second form of communication other than my phone. YES… it’s even higher up on the list than emails. Facebook has been a very handy tool for keeping in contact with my high school friends and all of my family around the country but when it comes to doing projects, doing homework, or even studying for tests… facebook is my worst enemy!

The average student at Gallaudet spends about 2-3 hours on Facebook. If that time was devoted to friends, their social status and communication skills would be better. If that time was devoted to school, their overall gpa would probably be a whole .5 points higher. I’m very quilty of this when it comes to important school-related things. I generally spend between 2-3 hours on facebook a day and I really wish I could reduce the time. Because most of my classes during the week are done around 1 and 2 in the afternoon, I have so much free time during the afternoon and evening to relax. When i’m not with my beautiful girlfriend I try to do homework but i’m not doing that, it’s always playing NCAA Football 2011 on XBOX with friends or gazing around on facebook.

This is a good time-budget test for any student. A smart student would disable their facebook during important times of the semester such as mid-term and finals week but most don’t! As a result it takes their focus away from the important things. You could simply minimize your time on Facebook! That’s always a good suggestion but it’s hard to resist. I’ve been making an effort to reduce my time on Facebook and focus on academics so I can pull my GPA back up in the 3.0’s. Facebook is a very good thing to have as a form of communication but it’s important to manage your time wisely and go on only when you’ve finished everything first!

Bald Day!!!

A day I honestly wish I didn’t have to experience! Thinking about other universities… I can’t imagine students getting together to shave their head bald. Bald Day for Gallaudet has been a tradition for many years. It all started when a student had cancer and went bald. Friends of the student wanted to show support and make the student feel better by shaving their heads to be the same. This became a big thing and it stuck as a Gallaudet tradition. This tradition has a good story and meaning to it but when you look at the campus during this activity, it becomes a little to crazy and non-respectable. Some students have various reasons for shaving bald but they all claim it’s to show support for that one students many years ago. Some students shave bald for reasons such as the tradition itself, donation of the hair to a cancer facility for cancer patients, a fresh start, or just simply getting drunk and doing something stupid and regretting it the next morning.

Gallaudet students use bald day the wrong way in today’s time. Gallaudet nearly banded it because of the use of alcohol and the affects of drunk students shaving students who didn’t want to shave. One thing that I haven’t fully understood is the reason behind dying the hair months in advance before the official shave day! If this is for a good cause and donation, then dying of the hair ruins the whole meaning behind Bald Day.

I have several very good friends who joined in on Bald Day to do some good and donate their hair for cancer patients. This is where i’m very supportive of this event. My grandma suffered from cancer last year and overcame it and now is healed! When I see or hear of people that are joining Bald Day to do good, it makes me happy and proud.

It’s funny because for men, their hair grows back in 3 weeks. For women, it takes more than 3 months!!! This is where it gets a little interesting because a lot of our women on campus are bald for most of the year! This includes the very pretty girls with very nice and pretty hair!!! I mean after the girls shave, guys are thinking to themselves..”Dang… she looked pretty with that hair and now it’s gone.” It’s a bummer if Bald Day is done for the wrong reason but also a very good cause if it’s done the right way.

Class Schedule Spring 2011!

I am now majorly into my major classes. As a junior there’s really only a few more GSR classes that are required and then you’re finished. As a PE Education major, most of my classes are based on learning about the body, mind, and how to teach and communicate with young students. The classes I have this semester are leaning more on the major side and not the GSR side. One GSR class that’s required that i’m taking is Intro to Psychology. I failed this class as a sophomore (3rd semester) because of the poor teaching of the teacher. The teacher I had was lazy as she sat in her chair during her lecture and didn’t sign very clear. This hurt me because I was a new signer. After confronting her, she didn’t change her style so I ended up failing the class a year and a half ago. It wasn’t just me that failed that year, 13/17 students in that class failed. That’s one thing I learned about picking classes now. Generally I don’t listen to what my friends or peers say about their opinion on teachers and who’s good and bad. After experiencing that semester, I started focusing on the feedback on other students with experience with certain teachers. Sometimes it’s good to listen to your peers to hear what they have to say.

Anyways back on my class schedule!!! I’m taking Sports Safety Training for Coaches class but it also includes CPR so this will give me an opportunity to renew my certification for CPR and First Aid. Classes like these are very enjoyable and hands-on. Another class that’s interesting but tough as well is Kinesieology. This class focuses on the movement of the muscles, joints and also how it’s worked together with the bones. I’m doing ok in this class so far but i’m getting the hang of it. Advanced Discovery is a very good class! This class focusing on teamwork and hands on activities. This class is mostly activities in class that relate to teamwork and communication. This is a great class for bonding and getting to know people. The point of this class is to get comfortable with each other as well. Last but not least I have a class called Fundamentals of Movement, Rhythms and Gymnastics. This class, again, is another hands on class! Actually it’s more of a “feets-on” class! HA! This class focuses on dance and movement of the body and how they coordinate together to form specific movements and rhythmic patterns. This class is very enjoyable!

As you can see my schedule this semester is very active and FUN! This is a great full-time schedule to end my junior year. Just 2 and a half more months before i’m finally heading home to prepare for my senior year! It’s crazy I tell ya!

Off-Season Football!

So a disappointing ending to a 5-5 season now leads to an off-season full of dedication, motivation and best of all… a chip on our shoulder. This is what drives teams to their maximum potential during an off-season. Generally in the off-season, our football program will have workouts that consist of working out with weights on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. That’s all we do for the first 3 weeks of spring semester before we introduce SAQ (speed and quickness) training on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Because we are college students, we still have our class duties to attend to. Coach is flexible with his training hours for the players which helps everybody with equal training and the opportunity to fit working out in their schedule. We are given a choice at the beginning of the semester with three different times during the day to workout. The first time is 6:30 in the morning, the next is 3 in the afternoon, and the last is at 5 in the afternoon.

To do something different and show dedication because this is my last year, I picked the 6:30 time slot for my lifting and running. For the first month, the 6:30 time wasn’t too bad but now as I get into the semester deep with mid-terms, homework and tests… it’s a little overwhelming now and hard. Waking up at 6 wasn’t too bad at the bigging in January but now at the end of February i’m finding it extremely difficult to get myself out of bed that early. To help with my energy during the day I switched my time of working out at 5 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Tuesdays and Thursday i’m doing the 6:30 still. This will reduce my stress level and increase at least 3 hours of sleep each day. I’ve been averaging around 4 hours of sleep and night and it’s starting to take a toll on my body. Getting sick is more likely so i’m really trying to get rid of that possibility because of last semester’s strep throat I had during the season.

My max for bench-pressing is 245 pounds. That’s 10 pounds more than my weight! My goal by the time the semester is done is to hit 280. It’s a 35 pound increase in just 2  and a half months but it’s very possible with consistency and hard work. I was at 225 at the beginning of February so I gained 20 pounds in just a month! That’s 5 pounds a week so i’m hoping to keep this trend going. My max for squat is 315 as of now. I’m not a very good squatter but i’m hoping to get 370 by the time summer comes.

Last Game vs Suny Maritime!

Another heartbreaking loss in the final 2 minutes happened as Suny Maritime pulled away with a touchdown to put us away with a score of 21-14. I hate saying this but how many points did we lose by?…. 7!!! It’s very frustrating when you work day in day out, sweat your head off and play with all your heart only to come away losing by one possession on offense. It’s games like this that motivate people for the next season. Losing is never fun especially if it’s the last game of the season or it’s such a close game. We got both! This loss put our record at 5-5 and 4 place in our conference.

The game couldn’t have started any better as we scored a touchdown within one minute of the game starting. Jimmy fired a 61 yard touchdown to Ryne Worsham and put the score 7-0 with just under 14 minutes to play left in the 1st quarter. The following kickoff, our coached took a massive gamble compared to the New Orleans Saints in Superbowl XLIV (44). Coach Chuck decided to do a surprise onside kick with high hopes of getting the ball back. The plan was a success!! After scoring a touchdown within 2 minutes, we were able to score again shortly after. The next play doomed us as we lost our starting quarterback Jimmy Gardner to a knee injury that put him on crutches and on the sideline for the remainder of the game. Backup sophomore Andrew Palmer came in and stepped in big time to lead us to a near-victory against undefeated Maritime. With 5 and a half minutes remaining in the football game, Gallaudet fumbled the ball around the 50 yard line and gave Maritime the opportunity to pull away with a victory.

Coach Chuck Goldstein’s comments after the game:

“It was an exciting season,” said Goldstein, who completed his first year at the helm and second with the program. It was tough to watch Maritime celebrate a perfect regular-season because that easily could had been us. We lost five games by 25 combined points. All of our losses were by eight points or less. That’s one score. We need to learn from those games and start working on the 2011 season.Our senior class helped to build a strong foundation for our future, teams are not going to take us lightly moving forward.”

This is a big stepping stone and a motivating factor moving into the 2011-2012 season! Now that the season is over, we can now move on and focus on a new season. Time to hit the weight-room!

http://gallaudetathletics.com/sports/fball/2010-11/releases/recap_maritime

Homecoming Game vs Anna Maria!

This game turned out as a repeat of last year. It was a game of dominance as we went on to beat Anna Maria College 33-6. Offensive production went through the roof as we went on for 410 rushing yards and 528 total yards, the highest of the season! Homecoming turned out to be another big day for the Gallaudet community as 2,000 people poured in to witness our blowout win. Generally our offense features the Triple-Option and that’s pretty much it. This season we included the pass a little bit more. The passing game opens up the defense and makes the rushing game easier, which in turn helps us score more points and have a better chance at victory. One impressive stat that I never noticed was the time it took to score each touchdown. We had 5 total touchdowns and none of those drives lasted more than 2 minutes. This game turned out to be the last win for our seniors. A ton of credit goes to these young men for all their dedication and commitment to the Gallaudet football program over the last 4-5 years. There are very few people that can make it as student athletes and these guys did it! Without these seniors, the program wouldn’t be where it is now. Here’s the men we thank very much for their time they spent with the program….

http://gallaudetathletics.com/sports/fball/2010-11/releases/recap_annamaria

Seniors…

8th Game vs Becker

Finally I’m back from my sickness. Monday prepping for the Becker game was very difficult for me. Doing drills, hitting people and even running was very hard because my legs and body felt physically weak after not eating or being active for almost two weeks. By Wednesday, my body started get back into football shape and I wasn’t getting tired so fast in practice. This season has been very awkward for me physically. After experiencing a polinital cyst just before the season opener, I didn’t expect to have any other problems with my body. The thing that made it hard for me during practice was my chest feeling really tight. This made it tough for me to breathe but as time progressed, I was better by Friday and ready for the game.

Our game vs Becker was away so I had to endure another road trip not feeling healthy. The drive was only around 4 hours so it wasn’t so bad and the hotel we stayed in was the Hilton. That was the first time I had ever experienced staying in a hotel as nice and fancy as the Hilton. There was nothing that felt better than sleeping on an amazingly comfortable mattress by myself without sharing. We offensive lineman have the privilege of having our own bed! Not only that but there’s something else we lineman get to do. When it’s time to eat our team breakfast, lunches and dinners….. WE’RE FIRST IN LINE!! Yep you heard that right! Probably the best privilege of all!

Saturday started great, after eating our team breakfast I felt healthier and ready to play. Recovering mentally/physically and having a starting left tackle again helped us Bison take over the game with a 40-12 victory. It was a great bounce back from our loss against Mount Ida. We were able to rack up 305 rushing yards and 440 total yards on offense Our record at this point in the season now is 4-4. Just two more victories and we can repeat what we accomplished last year. Another winning record would make Coach Goldstein’s first season as a head football coach a great success. Here’s the story of the game below.

http://gallaudetathletics.com/sports/fball/2010-11/releases/recap_becker