Personal Narrative: A Career As An Executive Coach

When I received the promotion to Director of Academics and the Assistant Athletic Director for Academics at Portland State I was required to keep the job responsibilities that were associated with my Academic Advisor position. This meant that not only was I responsible for job duties as an advisor but I was also given the responsibilities of the Academic department and supervising. I went from a case load of 150 students to over 300 and supervising a staff of just over 10. I had to learn to manage my time efficiently and effectively while being able to handle and manage crises that arose during the day or any impending deadlines. It was also not rare to receive requests from the University General Counsel, Athletic Director, NCAA, Compliance

Yeah, Mr. Jack you’re right I’m late, not only by 5 minutes but 6 minutes. As you can see I’m sweating bullets since I just ran here. I was in the gym with Coach Travis, I was shooting on the gun taking it all in, the sparkling of the hardwood floor, the brightness of the lights, and the sound of the gun shooting the ball back to me. I was just doing my thing when all of a sudden I heard Coach Travis say something, “I would sauce you” are the exact words he said. As we all know Coach Travis is pretty good and it would be tough game, but I wasn’t going to just play it off like I didn’t hear it. I said Coach “You may be able to sauce with your Steph Curry handles, but I’ll drain threes in your eye.” I guess I really didn’t know what I was getting

My mind was set to pursue a career in coaching after my undergrad. Leading into my first year as college football coach, I relied mainly on my personal and prior experience during college as a football player. I wanted to provide the players with support and guidance I did not experience having as a player. During my first year as an assistant coach, I managed to influence some players following my main objective in my first year as a coach. Going into my second year, I was promoted with my own position group, running backs (RB), to coach without having to shadow another position coach as an assistant. I was excited, passionate, and overwhelmingly ready to guide this group of young men into a spiritual, motivational direction using my personal experience and my prior knowledge of football to support my coaching goals and objectives.

Our hearts had just been ripped out of our chests. We had fought as hard as we could just to come up short on the last second touchdown. We continued on with our heads held high to shake hands with the opposing team because we knew we had fought as hard as we could. I was nearing the end of the line, when the I reached an opposing coach. Not expecting anyone to say anything, I heard a voice talking to me. I heard the man say to me, “Once you get some feet under you, you might be pretty good. Until then, you will just be a piece of shit.”

When David Charles Johnson was a child, he wanted to become a professional football player. He always wanted to become a quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. As his parents raised him in Madison, Wisconsin, they encouraged him to try new things and would push him to do his best. David had a lean build with dark-brown hair and blue eyes. He participated in multiple sports, but he enjoyed baseball and football the most. In both sports, he enjoyed the throwing aspects of each game. He enjoyed pitching in baseball and being a quarterback in football. When high school arrived and David was a sophomore, he decided that he only wanted to play baseball and football. He and his parents decided it would be better for him to focus on his academics

I chose this particular activity because over the past two weeks, one of our assistant coaches has been really trying to work with us and engaging us in thinking about our teammates as a whole, rather than just ourselves. Each day, she has given us a couple quotes, and talked about leadership. She asked a rhetorical question saying, “Are you willing to go the extra mile for not only your teammates, but yourself. This to me in making me think about not only the big things that are going to happen on the court, but it’s the small things that are going to make it matter why I am performing the information she told me.

Leadership was a word I was not familiar with when I started playing high school softball as a freshman. As the season started I wasn’t even aware that I had a role until the assistant coach said every player has a specific role that will impact the whole team as it progresses. This opened up my mind and made me realize that although I was just a young player who still needs experience in high school games. I was still being relied on by my teammates and coaches on my specific job on the field and the classroom. Although I was frightened with the role I had, I was supported by my family

This wasn’t just your typical football practice before your first game, this was trying to get everyone hyped after a rather laid back Monday practice. This was a more competitive practice than usual, trying to get everyone motivated for the first game against Clarksburg. Coach Song thought it would be a good a time to divide everyone up into teams, Team Zuckerman and Team Johnson. The teams were named after our running back and myself, who were voted team captains. In between drills we would have little competitions between both teams to try to bring a competitive edge for everyone to get excited for practice. Emotions were at an all-time high because Coach Song had yelled at us after the first practice to get us excited to on

Throughout my lifetime, activities, events, and services that I am involved in have shaped me as a person. The one thing that I personally think has had the most impact on my character is being a soccer coach for Lil’ Kickers, it has given me qualities of leadership that will carry on throughout my entire life.

My adrenaline coursed through my body and my nerves were at an all time high as I was finally getting to play in my first game as a Varsity Wildcat. All my hard work had led up to this moment and there was no way I was going to mess it up. The all too familiar smell of the fresh cut grass made me feel comfortable at that moment and I lined up as the strong side linebacker and got ready for the play to start. Steam filled my helmet and my breathing got gradually quicker and quicker. The quarterback hiked the ball and I knew exactly what play they were running. I threw myself into the gap I needed to and made the tackle, but as I headed to the ground there was a violent crackling in my right knee. The whistle blew again and I tried to stand up, but I couldn’t. A flurry of emotions flooded my brain: fear, anxiety, pain, sadness, regret. When the trainer got me to the bench to see what had gone, wrong he determined that I had torn my Meniscus and I would be out for the season. All my effort on the difficult, hot, summer practice all nulled from this one moment. All my aspirations of

I found a group of passionate, like-minded individuals and founded an Esports club. All of us had a strong sense of competitive spirit and a thirst to prove ourselves. We had no precedent, no knowledge or mentor. We derived a structure, incorporating roles and responsibilities similar to traditional sports.

It all started when i was in fourth grade. It all changed what inspired me came by whole big dream that i wanted to be successful at. I was at school just a normal day, and it was times to go to PE, and my coach got out a circular ball that i had never seen in my life. It was kinda colorful, it had some weird word written on it, but i couldn't see from where i was standing. My coach handed us each one of these balls, and coach called them volleyballs. My coach told us what to do and what not to do, so i was at this net, and just gave the ball a high five because that's what he said to do. Coach came over to me, and kinda directed me through and told me it was called a serve. That day i went home thinking about it, and i decided i want to do

Regardless of what you decide to become in your life, writing will always find its way to become a part of it. Each and every profession requires at least some degree of writing. Furthermore, the sooner we realize this, the sooner we will be able to accept the simple truth that it is. My dad has coached high school sports for as long as I can remember at four different schools. His job has exposed me to athletics at a young age, and I can still remember being a first-grader wanting nothing more than to be able to wear a football helmet every Autumn Friday night. I was taught many things you would expect to learn from a coach’s son at a young age. Among these are respect, work-ethic, dignity, but most importantly, competitiveness. Sports are

If i had this job would try to get in the best shape, and learn as

Working in a two person office for many years, I have been forced to look at things from different angles. I am dedicated to my work and I have had to finds ways to process aid in an efficient manner. I was continually looking for ways to complete the tasks presented as quickly and correctly possible. This forced me to look at things from all angles, therefore, looking outside the box or problem solving. I discuss many things with my boss to get another perspective. Most of all, I need to be part of something bigger…the financial aid team. I cannot let my ego or my opinions get in the way if my suggestions are not implemented. I know I will not have all the answers, I have a team to help sort out what answers might apply to the questions.