LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Edward Furlong was nominated by an anonymous student.

Just get to the finish line…  Give it your all… You are almost there… Don’t let them beat you without fighting… God this sucks… finally!

"I collapse. 'It's ok if you run JV next season; Arrowhead has some good athletes,' people would tell me, implying they do not expect me to go anywhere anytime soon in track and field," said the student. "I checked the time; it was better than the last race, but I was still miles behind the other athletes on my team. They were right—I was not doing anything special from the way I saw it. That was the same view for everyone except one."

"At Arrowhead Union High School, there is a coach for the Track and Field team who gives his time and dedication to the athletes and the team's betterment. This person is Coach Furlong, EJ, Furly, and/or Santa Claus. He goes by many names, but what is less ambiguous than his name is how he treats the athletes he coaches," said the student.

"Coach Furlong spends his days creating, finding, and going through new ways to make everyone better. He goes out of his way to give constructive criticism, see potential, and find the best in people," said the student. "I spent every waking moment trying to get better quietly despite what people had to say about me, and I still saw unsatisfactory results, which drove me to end up talking to one of the coaches. I spoke to Coach Furlong about getting better, which may have been one of the best decisions in my athletic career."

"We talked for what felt like hours," said the student. "He took out his computer and brought up data, gave me insight, talked me through things. Not only did he care, but he had a passion for helping me. By the end of our conversation, he showed me that all of the work I put in could lead to something that isn't just another JV meet. He noticed I would beat myself up on any minor setback. He taught me that my worth is more than what I put on a resumé, that progress is not linear, and that I didn't need to break Olympic records every week."

"What we talked about grounded me. With everything being so up in the air and having as many questions as I do, let alone the hundred other athletes getting the same help. There is so much more to say about him than just my story. Even these few words hardly do Coach Furlong any justice. All I can say is thank you for all the support that you have given and continue to provide me with because who knows where I would be without it," said the student.