This is an adaptation of the phrase “the hay is never in the barn.”  It was quoted to me from my father who got it from his mentor Bruce Snyder.  Bruce Snyder, among other things, coached the Arizona State football team to a Rose Bowl in 1997, winning the National Coach of the Year.  Coach Snyder passed away on April 19th, 2009 after battling skin cancer. 

The phrase that Coach Snyder so famously within my household used meant that nothing was ever enough.  There is always more work to be done, more effort to give, more lessons to learn.  My father, a teacher as well as a coach in his own right, liked to attach his own personal caveat to Coach Bruce’s words by saying, “If a student asks you the same question a thousand times, answer him a thousand and one.”  

This is one of the major philosophies that drive me.  As an educator with a coaching title, the opportunity to apply Coach Snyder’s sentiment is a daily occurrence in my life.  But I do not leave it at the office door, instead choosing to take it with me.  I strive to learn, to better myself, to help those around me at every opportunity and as much as is possible. 

Bruce Snyder
1940-2009