From: ricarmedi@hotmail.com
Subject: Mario "Doc' Reda
Date: July 2, 2007 10:14:25 AM CDT
To:redaart@mac.com
You could always tell when he was winding up for the “Big one”. He’d casually walk over to the shelf of bats and thoughtfully select the one that suited his mood. One, two, three test swings
yeah
this is the one. He walked up to the plate and looked out across the field to assess his opponents, took a deep breath, gazed up and off to the side as if accessing a file from his memory and swung at the pitched ball.
Sometimes he would strike out. Other times it was a hit, an RBI
a home run. He loved to play this game. The game I am referring to is the game of discussion, debate, people
life.
Not too long ago and perhaps longer than I care to admit, a young man found himself at the College of Dupage. He had decided to return to school and continue his education and found himself by chance or design in Sociology 100. Prof. Reda turned out to be an interesting man. The class did not fit the traditional model, to the young man’s delight. Intro classes are usually lecture based and boring. This was different, new, and fascinating. Students in this class were actually expected to think for themselves!! It didn’t take long for the students to polarize themselves. Some disliked this format, disliked having to think instead of being told what to think. They did not like the 40 min stories of life or what they considered self-indulgent ravings. Others, including the young man, saw the connections to the “Sociological Perspective” for is not sociology about relationships and groups of people? Prof. Reda was presenting a big picture. The students that chose not to see or were unable to because of the blinders they wore could never appreciate what this man was trying to teach them. For them
it was just a class they had to endure. For the young man
it was much more.
It wasn’t long before he went to chat with Prof. Reda in his office and soon the talk gravitated toward soccer. He asked the Prof. if he knew anything about the soccer program at COD and if he knew when tryouts were to be held. “Well
” said Mario, “I think I can point you in the right direction. And call me ‘Doc’.” This is one of the many things I have to thank him for. I too, have a love of soccer. But my passion for it is in the playing. I never considered myself a good player but that never stopped me from going out there and giving it my best and enjoying myself. And boy did I enjoy myself!
Except for all that running during practice. I never minded the 2-mile run but the ‘killers’ and ‘Kelley Specials’ were banes to my existence.
Because of ‘Doc’ I met some great people, Coach Jimmy Kelley, Coach Willie Fajkus, the late Julie Svec, my fellow teammates who suffered along with me during practice. I met some of his esteemed colleagues, Al Manaster, Alan Lanning. I met his wife Lisa and two youngest children Connie and Becket. I regret only that I did not get to meet more, for great men surround themselves with great people.
I met his pride and joys of technology
the satellite dish in his back yard and his Mac. He introduced me to the motorized wonder that was his Alfa Romeo. When he introduced me to his brother Frank, I thought he might be pulling my leg.
Here was a man who made his point relatively quickly in comparison to ‘Doc’ who liked to take his time making his point. Could they both be from the same stock? I was introduced to the wonderful Cuisine of Topo Gigio.
He and I would dine there on occasion, whenever I managed to tear him away from his many pursuits. “ I’m up to my ass in alligators.” He would say. There always seamed to be a steady supply of alligators.
He later encouraged me to take his Sociology 290 class, which he co-taught with Al Manaster. I did and it changed the way I looked at communication and how I communicated with others. It changed me in subtle yet fundamental ways. The skills I learned were the catalyst for the personal growth I experienced over the subsequent years. Growth that I seamed to be experiencing in leaps and bounds. Growth that I am experiencing to this very day.
I remember something I heard long ago
. People may not remember what you look like. They may not remember what you said. But they will remember how you made them feel.
Doc is a man that tended to engender strong emotions. Apathy was never one of them.
Thank you Mario
Thank you for being my teacher, my soccer pal,
The catalyst for my continued growth as a man,
For being a part of who I am today.
Thanks ‘Doc’
For being my friend.
Ricardo Medina 6/25/07
No comments:
Post a Comment