What Matters Most in Life

What matters most in your life? This is a common question people are asked a lot, most of the time it’s a rhetorical question that we hear at funerals. TLU lost a great professor in Dr. Hettinger. When comparing school to athletics, to me Dr. H was one of the most influential coaches in an academic sense. Professors on this campus are influential in their own individual ways, and they are the coaches in the classroom. They are the ones you go to if you have questions about a paper, problem, assignment, etc. As coaches like to see their athletes succeed on the playing field, professors like to see their students succeed academically. The older I get the wiser I become, and when this question about what matters most in my life starts to mean more to me. When I was a freshman in high school I'm sure I would answer that question with football is what matters most in life. Now in a sense I am right, but football is just a game, there is a beginning and an ending. The thing that sticks out to me from that answer is the relationships established from not only football but any sport. Athletes have friends then they have their teammates, and teammates become family. Shoot the more I think about it during the football season I think I saw my teammates more than my actual family. That is the beauty of sports, because the most important learning experience from football is the relationships you established with people who have completely different backgrounds and views than you do. But you can put those aside and walk out on that field to go win a game together or stand up for one another when one gets backed into a corner. What matters most in life are not the things you accomplished or the money you have earned. Sure those are important, but what matters most are the relationships you established. Leaving behind a legacy that you can be proud of, a kind of legacy where people can only say great things about you. Dr. Hettinger did just that, she impacted so many people’s lives in a positive manner that her legacy will forever remain glorious. The funny thing is she took everything I said about football and sports and, without even knowing me, she was able to establish relationships with her students. She created a family with in her classroom. That’s something to be proud of, I wasn’t lucky enough to know Dr. Hettinger but the stories people shared with me really said she was a great person. That’s what matters most in life, how someone can take their job, sport, or whatever and leave a legacy behind like Dr. H did. She impacted so many lives in such a positive way that her legacy will continue to be spread and grow throughout the TLU community and further. Whoever knew Dr. H will carry her story with them to their hometown. Establishing relationships with people and impacting their lives positively so that is how you are remembered that is what matters most in life.