Your typical grumpy old man was my impression of Coach Harvey at my first day of football practice freshman year. He was very quick to make his first opinion on people; he didn't want to waste time or beat around the bush. Within a miniscule amount of time, he made his mind up on whether he liked you or not. For some crazy, lucky reason, he ended up liking me a lot, and pushed me harder than any of the other players on the team. From there on out, our relationship grew to what neither of us would have predicted.

Although I never had him as a teacher, I spent hours in his health portable classroom during free periods and after school. He was older and had seen so much over the years, and he loved sharing his stories with me. We would talk about anything from problems that I was having at home, to politics, to how badly he wants to be a principal at the school but keeps being denied. He would occasionally tell me about stories from back when he was in the Marines, those were my absolute favorite. Our talks always started with just small talk and then would grow so big that we wouldn’t realize how late it got. I can’t even count how many times I was late to class or even practice because we would lose track of time. Harvey wasn’t the head coach, so we sometimes got in a little trouble because we would be late. He never cared though, and neither did I because those conversations were well worth it and meant the world to me.

Not to care what other people say or think was the number one thing he taught me that would stay with me for the rest of my life. I use to get into fights in and out of school all the time. When immature kids would say stuff about me, I would deal with them and made sure they didn’t say anything about me anymore. I got into a huge fight with one of the seniors my freshman year and got suspended for ten days. When I got back to school, Harvey wasn’t mad at me. He understood I wasn’t going to let some older kid pick on me and talk trash about me because I was a freshman. Harv sat me down and told it to me straight, “if they don’t have the guts to say it to your face, then they’re not worth it.” And it stuck with me. I grew up and became more mature, and always kept his words in the back of my head. I knew he was right and it wasn’t worth it. Since then, I have yet to be in a fight, or any real major confrontation with anyone.
Moving to a new school was so hard for me, especially in the middle of high school. When I found out I was moving from Maryland to Wisconsin, I was so upset. I made the decision when I got here to not football anymore. When I got here, Harvey heard from a few of the other players in Maryland that I wasn’t going to play football here. As soon as he heard that, he got right on the phone to call me and tell me I’m making a mistake. I didn’t agree with him at the time, and I still didn’t want to play, but he knew that I would regret it someday. We won the state championship this year, so I am happy with the advice he gave me. He always pointed me in the right direction, and knew what was best for me.

I could always count on that man to be there for me with anything, and help me go in the right direction with any decision. Even though we don’t see each other as much (because I moved away,) our relationship is still as strong as it was the day I left Maryland. We plan for it to continue growing from here on out for forever. Coach Harvey will always be more to me than just a grumpy old man to me. He’s is my friend, mentor, and most of all, a second father to me.