A Student Visit

Now and again instructors will get a visit from a former student who drops in to report on things. In my career I've gotten many such visit and had another recently. A week or so ago one of my young black belts came by before he shipped off to Germany with the US Air Force. Austin Cooner was one of those kids who started in the junior program, moved up to teen and then into the adults. In the meantime he worked on graduating from high school with an International Baccalaureat degree. His father, Jeff, and sister, Olivia, started taking kenpo, too. He and dad have a close relationship and went mountain climbing together, summiting some pretty tall peaks.
   Austin enlisted and recently graduated top of his class in the USAF Air Traffic Controller school, which qualified him for a choice spot. Austin dropped in, in uniform, to say hello. He thanked me for being a positrive influence in his life and credits his martial arts training with helping him develop the necessary discipline to accomplish what he has. It's pretty satisfying to hear.
   I've heard from many students like Austin, some as much as 30 years after they trained with me. One is an international lawyer (Khoa Do in San Francisco, and he fought on the Cung Le team there), Tony Velada in Chicago, now an IT guy for United Airlines, Terry Hyland, who is an FBI agent, and Chad Dugan of Ft. Myers, who is not just a nuclear engineer but finished medical school lately. One of my junior browns, Kal Judah grew up to go to the Air Force Academy ( I gave him his first flight in an airplane) and Pat McGerty of Chicago went to West Point. The list goes on.
   I'm glad to have contributed to their success and could not do it without their parents. So if you have a mentor in your life that you haven't told them what they mean to you, do it. It may mean more than you could ever know. Too often, as instructors, we don't know what we did and it's great when you tell us.
  Thanks.