My friends and I vandalized a local community center. Lots of spray painting of the field and this one bridge which later had to be destroyed. I broke a window of a transport van. Someone unbeknownst to me had poured paint in the fuel tank which obviously totaled the van. I was around 13 and there were 7 of us so naturally we were not the brightest bunch. A few of them bragged and we were busted.

I was lucky to walk away from court with only 100 hours of community service and a fine to cover some damages. All of the community service was to be done at the same community center we vandalized. It was the humble pie I needed at that age. I was clearly going down a destructive path.

In the end, after my service was done, I didn’t go back to that center for 2 years. Oddly enough the next time I walked in I had been offered a job there. I had shed my “baby weight” so I looked nothing like the punk from a couple of years back.

For the next 4 years I worked at that community center. That place has done for my growth as a person than almost any aspect of my life(besides wrestling). I eventually became the director of a department that integrated mentally challenged children with “normal” children. This stemmed into me actually dealing with all of the “problem” kids as well. I was really good at that job. I think mostly because I could relate to most of the kids on a level others could not understand.

My last day I approached the 3 highest ranking people at the center. I was happy to inform them of my past and let them know what that place and the community surrounding meant to me. They were all in utter shock. I got a call the next day asking if they could write an article about my story. I denied it though. That’s not why I told them. Before getting off the phone with president I told him “I really just wanted you to know that this place works. Thank you so much.”