From the Future: Dear First-Year Mike...

Dear First-Year Mike Garzillo,

The first thing I want to tell you is of utmost importance. You are the one who will determine how much you get out of the next four years of your life. You will have so many opportunities at your fingertips, but it is up to you to do what you want with them. No excuses. Next, understand that your journey through college will not only be unique, but will be an uphill battle that will require a tremendous amount of conviction in what you believe in.

At this point in your life you live by some rather unique do's and don'ts for an 18-year-old. You don't curse. You don't party. You've never had a sip of alcohol and, frankly, never plan to. What you do have is a girlfriend, a plan to commute to school, and a strong set of beliefs. More specifically, you have a belief in doing the right thing, especially when no one else is. But perhaps, most importantly, what you have is a desire to lead through your actions.

What I'm going to say next may surprise you, but listen as this is crucial in achieving success. With these things being held constant, you WILL NOT fit in from the day that you step foot onto a college campus. Building relationships WILL NOT come easy. It will be up to you to decide whether or not you will conform to the norm or lead from your core. Remember the man your parents raised you to be. And remember, that when you're struggling these are a few sayings that will save you.

"Have the COURAGE to stand up for what you believe to be TRUE, especially when it is counter to common belief."
It very well could be your purpose and why you are on this Earth.

Baseball is your life. It is your career goal and what you have wanted to do for your entire life. This is an extremely exciting time for you; a coach has just taken a chance on you and granted you the privilege to play at the collegiate level. However, there will be moments early on in your career that will cause you to question just how hard this team is willing to work in order to be the best team in the Patriot League. Your first impression of the team will be a senior telling you not to give 100%. You will question where teammates' hearts lie; if all of them are really compelled to win a Championship. You will question some of their intentions and how they prioritize their time. There will be moments when you will be labeled as an outsider because you won't accept mediocrity. You will have moments of frustration because you'll think you haven't earned your right to speak.

But, speak you will. You will meet leaders who want it is bad as you do. You will hear leaders speak with conviction about how the team culture needs to change for the better. You will have leaders define what a Championship team looks like:

Commitment – Win the toughness battle
Confidence – Trust your stuff
Competitiveness – Be the best at your position
Accountability - Attention to detail
Mental Toughness – Push yourself and your teammates
Selfless/Selfish – Be sticker hungry

"Be the person who is willing to be the leader, hold the STANDARD, and make ALL necessary SACRIFICES."
Not everyone is willing to do that, but you are.

These leaders will leave a long-lasting legacy that the Lehigh Baseball program will never forget. These leaders will become some of your most valued mentors that will not only reaffirm everything that you already believe in, but will continue to teach you valuable life lessons and empower you to make a difference. You will learn very quickly that you will not become a Champion unless everyone on the team has one goal; winning a Championship. You will come to realize that this team needs someone who is willing to live, eat, sleep and breathe character in every facet of life. They need a leader who can back up his words with action in order to shift the culture from the top down. Mike, you will be this leader, you will hold the standard, you will set a constant example and unify this team.

"Character is the most important thing in life. It is also the thing that you have 100% control over 100% of the time."
Never wish to be a certain way, be that way.

You will spend hours and hours with coaches that care so much about this Baseball program. They will spend hours and hours with you to help develop you as a leader and as a human being. They will listen to you when you need to be listened to, yet, will respond with thoughtful challenges that will push you to be the best person, teammate, and player you can be. They will teach you the importance of building relationships with your teammates, and will call upon you to widen your sphere of influence.

You will spend hours and hours with the leaders of a Leadership Development Program that will challenge you to expand your comfort zone. They will open your eyes to what leadership really means. They will force you to dig deep, answer tough questions, and reflect on who you are as a person. They will give you opportunities that will, without a doubt, allow you to grow and flourish as a human being.

You will spend hours and hours with teammates who welcome you in even though you are different. These teammates will hold you accountable. They will challenge you and make you laugh. They will listen to you. They will help you and compete with you. Most importantly, they will become some of your lifelong friends. You will have an accountability partner who will call you out and say "If you really want to be the best, you don't get off days." And that, Mike, will make all the difference.

"Know WHO to LISTEN to; find MENTORS that you RESPECT."
Your network will not only motivate you, but also give you advice and hold you accountable.

Your path to leadership will be somewhat unique in the sense that you will have the task of, one by one, getting people to buy into who you are and what you stand for. Keep in mind, this is in an athletic atmosphere where your ideas run perpendicular to the current athletic climate of the team. Yet, this will not scare you, you'll know that eventually people will have to respect the way you approach the game, they will have to admire the way you lead your life. You will know that if you stay constant people will begin to say these sorts of things to you and only then will you have the power to call them out and ask...

"If you respect it and admire it so much, why aren't you willing to do the same thing? How can you acknowledge someone doing the right thing, and you yourself, be okay with not doing so? Are you okay with not completely finishing a lift? Are you okay with only getting better during practice time? Do you feel good when you don't run 100% on your sprints? Is it okay to mock what coach is saying because you feel better when you don't have to look in the mirror? Is seniority good? Are we one team or a group of individuals? Are you satisfied when we come close, but fall short? Is drinking and partying so worth it that you are willing to take ten steps backwards when you just took five steps forward? Are you okay with being hung-over when Army and Navy are up at 5:00 AM getting after it? Do you feel good when you do well personally but the team is struggling? Do you even want to be the best? Do you believe in this coaching staff? Do you believe in this team? Do you believe in yourself? Do you expect things to change when you yourself are not willing to? Do you ever wonder why the fruits of your 'labor' aren't yielding what you want? Do you know that those fruits are what you deserve? Are you happy with last place as long as you're having fun? What are you willing to sacrifice to put a ring on your finger?"

"Gain your Leadership through HARD WORK, LISTENING, and consistently doing the right thing."
People are drawn to authentic people, which will give you the Talking Stick.

Your Lehigh Baseball career will be full of ups and downs. In your first year, you will be the quiet kid who takes a step back and takes everything in that is happening around him. You won't say much and won't think you have much of an influence, but you will work as hard as you possibly can. You will live a life of integrity and never falter on your values. You will earn the job as starting second baseman and you will struggle. You will have moments where you feel like you've never played baseball before. You will fail again, and again, and again, and again, and honestly, you will never stop failing throughout your entire career. The sooner you come to realize that those who can deal with failure the best are the ones who will succeed the most, the sooner you will become the ballplayer you are capable of being. The team will also struggle. You will see glimpses of greatness, where everything seems to be clicking; however, you will eventually come in last place.

You will have to look at your seniors in the eyes after getting swept when they tell you, "It goes quick, so embrace every moment you have out there and leave it all on the field". But you won't fully understand yet because you'll feel like you have so much time left.

Embrace everything about failure. Do not be afraid of it because failure not only teaches us how to learn and make adjustments, but also makes us mentally tough."
fail, fail, fail, fail, fail, fail, fail, fail…. I can do anything.

Your sophomore year will be different. However, even though you gained respect from your teammates, throughout the first half of the season, you really will not yet utilize your power to influence your teammates. Your teammates and coaches will take you far outside your comfort zone and challenge you to get to know your teammates on a more personal level. They will also encourage you to let them know who you are on a personal level. You will go to Chipotle every Thursday with your teammates and purposely share information about yourself to open up to your teammates. You will ask them questions about themselves in order to learn more about who each of them are as people. This will become a tradition. As for Baseball this year, you will do better than previously; however, you will not be as consistent as you would have liked. As for the team, everyone will believe that this is the year you will win a Championship. Your leader will be someone who only communicates confidence and belief in what we are all about.

You will lose in the Championship. And when you do, you will have to look at your seniors in the eyes when they tell you, "It goes quick, so embrace every moment you have out there and leave it all on the field". Again, you won't fully understand yet because you feel like you have so much time left.

"Be GENUINE through your words, actions, feelings and purpose."
Smile.

Your junior year will be magical. In this year, you will be empowered by your coaches and teammates to be a leader on your team. You will have put the time in, built the relationships, earned your role, and you will finally step up to the plate and begin holding people to the standard in which you hold yourself. You will be surprised how much of an impact you can have on a teammate when they know they will never catch you ever being a hypocrite. You will lead from your core and speak when you feel the team needs it, without hesitation. You will experience baseball nirvana when you see all of your hard work manifest itself on the ball field as you help your team become Patriot League Champions. You will experience a feeling of absolute purity when you dog-pile with your teammates because in that moment, you, along with every other Champion, will know what it took to get there. Your team will have driven on the road to the ring, and will accomplish what it set out to do. You will also get one step closer to your lifelong dream; getting drafted by the MLB. At the end of the day, you won't actually have that dream come true, yet.

What you will have are two tough losses in regionals where you will have to look your seniors in the eyes when they tell you, "It goes quick, so embrace every moment you have out there and leave it all on the field". But you won't fully understand yet because you feel like you have so much time left.

"MASTER the art of MASTERY."
Be the best, don't ever settle for anything less.

In your senior year, you, along with the rest of the senior class, will be the ones who will lead the team. It will be all on you guys; there will be no one else to rely on. All eyes will be on you and you will need to be ready to take charge. And Mike, I wish I could tell you more about what will happen this year in Baseball, but the script is still being written.

However, I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt, that... the time goes quick, quicker than you could ever imagine, so please, embrace every moment of it and leave your heart and soul beating on that field.

"UNDERSTAND that things do not just MAGICALLY happen. We CREATE everything that happens in our lives; good or bad."
Take personal responsibility for everything that happens in your life, no excuses.

Throughout this journey, you will make so many memories that will truly last a lifetime. You will meet so many people that will leave a long-lasting impact on your life. You will make friends that are very unexpected, but nonetheless, extremely real. You will experience so many feelings that you will not be able to describe, but will be so thankful that you got to feel them.

Your job will not be over. It will be up to you to mentor the teammates below you, just as your teammates did for you before. It is your responsibility, along with the rest of your senior class, to make sure the culture of this program will be sustainable and will live on for years to come. At the end of the day, all of your experiences will humble you. You will learn that this experience was never about you, but was about giving all that you are to something so much greater. It was about people. When it is all said and done, the legacy you leave will be defined by the perception others have of you and what you stand for, so while you're there, make connections and make them count.

"GIVE to OTHERS, GIVE back, and offer HELP to those in NEED."
Be generous, not for reciprocity, but out of the goodness inside of you.

Mike, I know when you receive that diploma, or raise that Championship trophy, with 100% conviction, you will be able to say: "To this day, and for the rest of my life, I will not curse (minus the few times you needed to motivate your team – a sacrifice that was well worth it), I have never and will never take a sip of alcohol, I never went to and will never go to a college party, I am still in love with the same girl that I fell in love with in high school". You will be able to say I commuted to school, I stayed true to my beliefs and will continue to be convicted in them. You'll know that you consistently did the right thing and will always do everything in your power to continue doing the right thing. Most importantly, you will know for certain that you will have led through action and will have gained enough respect to lead through words as well.

"Never take anything for GRANTED."
Appreciate everyone and everything.

At the end of your college career, please take time to reflect on how many people influenced your life in a positive way. Reflect on how many people care about what you did and the support they showed day in and day out. Please do not take these individuals for granted because they are the very ones who helped get you there. Take it upon yourself to say "Thank You" to everyone who has made an impact on your life. Take the time to sincerely express gratitude to every single person who played a role in changing your life forever.

The last thing I want to tell you is of utmost importance. In your final months of college, you will be asked to write a personal Manifesto. One in which you live by. You will type out the sayings listed above. They will remind you that you've gotten to this point because you were able to:

"Unleash the POWER of the mind; dream, want, ask, think, BELIEVE, act and receive"
Your mind WILL get you what you want and the universe will make it happen.

Sincerely,
Senior Michael Garzillo

Lehigh University Athletics

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