Noah Mazur '18 Recruiting Profile

                                                                                    Big

Yes, I am six foot six.

No, I do not play basketball.

But, I did give it a try in the third grade. Destiny mandated it, right?  I mean, how challenging could placing a ball into the bucket be for the big man? After a few stressful games, I reached the inevitable conclusion that stands true to this day: I suck at basketball.

I was probably the first to realize that I lacked the passion and skill necessary to play the sport that God created me for and instead was falling in love with the sport that wasn’t made for me: ice hockey. The average hockey player doesn’t have to hunt skates to fit size 15 feet, and the average hockey player definitely doesn’t have to add a four-inch wooden extension into the end of his stick just to make it functional.

An average person doesn’t need to duck just to avoid smacking his head off of the garage door for the hundredth time. An average person certainly isn’t required to stare straight down to engage in conversation with, well, everyone. No average person gets nicknamed ‘T-Rex’ or is turned into a professional meteorologist daily when asked how the weather is ‘up there’.  Did I mention that I wear a size 15 shoe?

At times, I’ve been afraid to stand as tall as I am.  Expectations of people such as myself are always high, and when expectations required me to act big, I sometimes did just that: acted.  Tall guys like me are presupposed characters of the meanest, toughest kind, and this is an expectation that I simply cannot live up to. For real, how could anyone expect me to be anything more than the loving teddy bear that I truly am?  Hell, I’m afraid of stinkbugs. I can barely even look at those nightmares, and I have to call for my mom anytime I see one crawling around the house. Ironically enough, the thought of heights sickens my stomach.  Waterpark stairways to get to the super slides cause me great anxiety, always pitting my thrill-seeking self against my secret self, and I promise that you will never find me enjoying the panoramic views that a balcony of a highrise provides.  And yet...

The lessons I learned from the expectations associated with my height have fundamentally formed my character. It’s okay for me to suck at basketball, and it’s okay for me to be afraid of stinkbugs.  I am who I am.  And, over these last few years, I have realized that when a coach, a teacher, a parent, or a complete stranger places an astronomical expectation upon me, I thrive.  I thrive with the pressure of expectation.  That’s what brought me here, because somewhere along the way, the expectations of others began to diminish in size to those I placed upon myself.  

Big expectations are necessary in creating big opportunity, and as I continue to establish my own great expectations, I can’t help but to get excited to find a shoe or a skate that fits. Because, from my point of view, even though I have achieved so much and put myself in such a good situation, my accomplishments seem small when compared to my dreams. Everyone always asks me if I am still growing, and you know what?  I am.

Yes, I am six foot six.

No, I do not play basketball.

But, I was born to be big.