LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Mike Ray was nominated by a student.

"When you're good at something, you feel incredible. When you're bad at something, you feel like you're nothing, and you drag everyone else down," said the student.

"That feeling manifested during the middle of the track season, when I felt like everything I did was dragging all the people around me down. My slow times, lack of speed, and not being in shape whatsoever made me ask my distance coach, Coach Razor if I should quit the team," said the student.

"Maybe he saw something that I couldn't see. Maybe he literally couldn't cut me from the team. Whichever the case, Coach Razor looked me in the eyes and said: 'Buddy, I want you here. You aren't dragging down the team, and I think you could be a good runner.' Did I magically become a good runner after that pep talk? Of course not, but it told me something important: I belonged and wasn't dragging the people around me down. It was exactly what I needed to hear, which Coach Razor knew," said the student.

"Time passed, I thinned out, and my times improved Junior year. Each practice, each workout, each meet, ingrained as time went on. Coach Razor was always there, telling the boys to get after it and to push themselves even harder," said the student.

Coach Razor is good at reading people, especially regarding what a person is going through. I've seen him give hard talks to runners who can't run for the whole season due to an injury, or him knowing when someone has a bad day and needs to talk. He doesn't pry and ask too many personal questions, but you know that if you needed to speak, he would listen," said the student.

"For me, it manifested in a hat, of all things. I used to have long hair, which always got in my face whenever I ran. Not wanting to tie it back, I decided on a trucker hat from Walmart that had the words: 'Genuine Dickies' on it, based on the apparel company. I knew what I was doing, but it was still funny to me as he gave me a new nickname," said the student.

"As embarrassed as I was about the new nickname, it did wonders for me. I'm not super social, but the hat and nickname forced me to be social with everyone on the cross-country team. When I think back on it, I think Coach Razor did it intentionally because that's just the kind of person he is," said the student.

"Thank you, Coach. I wouldn't be half the person I am today without you pushing me to improve," said the student.