By Matthew Piechalak | [email protected]
“Ultimately, it’s up to YOU on how you perceive life,” says Parker Football Coach Rob Mendez, addressing the Upper School student body. “I always focused on what I was able to do instead of what I wasn’t able to do.”
It’s Tuesday, Oct. 12, the first day of Homecoming Week 2021, and Upper School students, faculty, and staff have congregated in the Fieldhouse to listen to one of the newest coaches to Parker Athletics. Coach Rob, who was born without arms and legs, is also a motivational speaker, author of the new book, “Who Says I Can’t: The Astonishing Story of a Fearless Life,” and a 2019 ESPYs Jimmy V Award Winner.
Instead of a prepared speech, Coach Rob brings “a message from the heart”––a message of love for everyone in attendance, including the football players who stand on the end line of the basketball court listening closely as their coach moves across the floor.
“We need love in our lives,” he says. “Love one another and be a good person.”
Along with a short documentary clip on his life, Coach Rob also fielded several questions from students, including one that forced him to think deep for a minute before answering:
“If you could be born again with your limbs, do you think you would?”
“That’s a great question,” Rob replies. He contemplates.
“I don’t think so. I love myself too much to change,” he says. “When you accept how things are, you don’t even see the adversity and you just keep cruising.”
