S1 EP8 pt2 - Balancing Academics, Sports, and Teenage Life: Insights from Richmond's Rising Stars

Richmond High School's extraordinary student-athletes, Ben Holliday and Teles Ortiz, join us to reveal their secrets to balancing sports, academics, and the complexities of teenage life. Ever wondered how top students manage the whirlwind of expectations and still find time for themselves? Ben and Teles share their journey of navigating peer pressure, maintaining focus on personal goals, and the invaluable family conversations that have kept them grounded. They offer insights into effective time management and the importance of surrounding oneself with positive influences, offering advice on handling friendships that may sometimes steer off course. Listen as they discuss the impact of their school's cell phone policy on their daily focus, proving that small changes can lead to big results.

In another inspiring segment, we shine a spotlight on a high school football team determined to rewrite their story after a challenging season. Meet the resilient "Four Horsemen," the defensive linemen who epitomize hard work and mental toughness, leading their team with passion and camaraderie. Despite the odds, this spirited team is focused on proving their critics wrong, emphasizing the importance of enjoying the journey as much as the destination. With a hopeful outlook for their upcoming games, this chapter reminds us of the power of perseverance and unity. Whether you're a sports enthusiast or simply in need of a dose of inspiration, these stories of dedication and resilience are bound to leave you cheering from the sidelines.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to Out of the Mouth to Babe, the podcast for
our youth.
Today I'm sitting here with twoexceptional young men.
I'm going to let them introducethemselves so I don't steal all
of their thunder.
Go ahead first up.

Speaker 3 (00:22):
I'm Ben Holliday, I'm Tullis Foy'm Telus, fort Ortiz.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
All right, both of these gentlemen are student
athletes at Richmond High Schooland we're going to talk a
little bit about what is it liketo be a high school student?
So tell me a little bit aboutyourself, your interests and
your hobbies.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
I play football.
I'm the kicker and punter andalso play soccer, so I do two
sports in the same season.
Uh, I just that's really aboutit.
That's all I do.
I just try to do good in schooltoo yeah, um, um, I play, uh,
football.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
I'm a two-way starter , you know um.
I played offensive tackle andthen defensive tackle, or like
defense in or wherever they needme for real, and I really just
go to school and that's prettymuch it.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
So what are some of the biggest challenges you guys
face as teenagers in today'sworld?

Speaker 3 (01:21):
Challenges.
I think peer pressure is like abig one for me.
You know a lot of my friendsthey like to, you know, do all
the normal high school stuff, soto speak, like they like going
out and partying and stuff andthat's you know, they're like
come on, tio, come out.
You know what I mean, but youknow I'm not.
That's not my type.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
Just got to stay focused.

Speaker 3 (01:43):
Yeah, for real, that's really it.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
What about you?
That's probably peer pressuretoo.
The main thing is just to stayfocused and do what you want to
do.
Don't do things that yourparents wouldn't do, something
like that, or your role models,all right.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
How do you manage to balance between being students,
school extracurricularactivities and your personal
life?
How do you balance that?
Because I heard Ben say heplays two sports in one season
and I heard TO say he plays bothways and plays another sport.
How do you balance all of that?

Speaker 2 (02:20):
I just have good time management.
I just got to again just stayfocused and just have to have
good mental and Just physicalstability to be able to do both
sports and then with schoolwork.
Just make sure I get it done.
It's got to focus on keep mygrades up.
It's my goal.

Speaker 3 (02:35):
I think, um, big time management, but at the same
time knowing like, likesometimes, like in football, you
can get emotionally involved,and just knowing when, like cut
that off right after practice.
You know I mean because youcan't let you know some part of
your day affect the rest,especially with your personal
life and everything.
So I mean like, just being ableto like turn switches on and

(02:59):
off is a big thing for me.

Speaker 1 (03:02):
All right.
Can you share a significantachievement or experience from
your teenage years that has hada lasting impact on you,
something that's been impactful,that's happened to you as a
teenager?

Speaker 3 (03:23):
When I first started playing football, you, my, um,
my older brother played with meand, like something that has
been mad impactful is one day hesat me down and we were just
talking and he was like, bro,you can really like do something
with this, you know?
I mean, just make sure like youmaintain your focus.
I think that talk with mybrother really um like made me

(03:44):
like have a different mindset,especially about like going out
and partying and stuff, justunderstanding that that's not,
you know, like maybe one time,but you know it's not everything
.
So just having that talk withmy brother really like had me
maintain my focus.
So I think that was probablythe biggest thing for me.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
Yeah, my dad kind of had the same talk with me, like
going into freshman year, likesaying, like high school has a
lot of obstacles and stuff andthe main thing to do is just
stay focused, keep motivatedtowards the goals you want to do
and the person you want to beat the end of high school.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
Yeah, Now you guys see a lot of your friends
probably not doing the rightthings.
Is that accurate?
Oh yeah, how do you hold themaccountable?
What do you say to them?

Speaker 2 (04:31):
Or do you just stay away from people that aren't
doing the right things?
I just kind of just don't do it.
I mean, I tell them to like notdo it, but I've learned that
people make decisions based onwhat they want to do and that
you can't really change theiropinions.

Speaker 3 (04:50):
You just got to kind of guide them in the right
direction, but they won't alwaysdo what you tell them to do.
You know what I mean.
Yeah, for me, um, it's allabout who I hang around with.
You know what I mean.
Like, if I see, like like someof my friends from middle school
you know they're still there.
We're distant for sure, becauseI see them doing things that I
wouldn't do personally.
So you know, it's all aboutdistance.
Like making sure, like youmaintain you know your values
and stuff.
So like, if they're out hereclowning around doing things

(05:12):
that are not supposed to bedoing, you know, I just don't
want to be involved in that.
So I really distance myselffrom people that, like, aren't
going to help me grow.

Speaker 1 (05:19):
I just don't want to be involved in that, so I really
distance myself from peoplethat like aren't going to help
me grow.
So I've been talking to somestudents here in the last couple
of weeks and one of the thingsthat we've been talking about is
this old, infamous cell phonepolicy.
Now I want to look at you.
I see you falling out of thescreen.
I just want to get your opinionas to what you guys think about

(05:43):
the cell phone policy.
But before you start, you gotto know I'm in agreement with it
.
So let me hear what you guysgot to say.

Speaker 2 (05:54):
I mean I like it personally because it helps me
focus more throughout the day.
So like last year, I kind ofgot distracted by my phone
having it out and the teacherswouldn't say anything.
But like this year, with it nothaving it out, it's just kind
of helped me like stay focusedon doing work and like staying
and being more interactive inschool.

Speaker 1 (06:12):
Awesome, awesome.
That's what I like to hear.

Speaker 3 (06:22):
What about you TO you , to yo?
Give me the opposing viewpointfor me.
For me it's not like I don'thate it like as much as I
thought, because we had the sameconversation before before, um,
before school even started.
But now it's not.
It's not as bad as I thought itwas going to be.
I thought they were going to belike way more strict about it.
Like if you're on your phone,like looking at something, and
put it back away, they're notgoing to say much, but, um, I
don't think it's necessarily abad thing.
But at the same time, I like tokeep in touch with people, like

(06:45):
making sure everybody's goodand stuff, or like seeing
notifications from, like thefootball group chat or something
knowing where to go.

Speaker 1 (06:52):
So it's cramping your style a little bit, it's
cramping, my style, for sure.
Yeah, all right, cramping yourstyle a little bit, it's
cramping my style for sure.
Alright, now, both of you guys,I mean, you guys have diverse
groups of friends, right yeah?
How do you build a relationshipwith friends who have different
perspectives, background,ethnicities, and part of my

(07:13):
ignorance on this being I wouldsay that most of the kids on the
soccer team probably don't hangout with most of the kids on
the football team.
Is that correct?
Oh yeah, that's definitelycorrect.
And TO, most of the kids on thetrack team, unless they play
football, don't hang out.
So how do you because you guysare in both those worlds how do
you merge the groups?

(07:33):
How do you communicate in twodifferent circles and try to get
people to realize thateverybody is, you know?

Speaker 3 (07:42):
we're all human and we just want to connect.
That's a tough question.
I know, but just really like Idon't think it's necessarily,
like it's just we spend most ofour time like with us.
We spend most of our time withfootball Like we're all
throughout the year.
And with the track they're alltogether.
So like, once we combine, it'slike it's a little awkward

(08:04):
because we're not around eachother all the time like our
groups.
But like I think this is allabout like their background,
like understanding them aspeople, and then once you start
understanding them as people, itreally like you really have a
connection.

Speaker 2 (08:19):
Like time, it just takes time.
Yeah, yeah, what about you?
I mean, yeah, kind of the samething, just like be time, just
kind of like being the sameperson around everybody, just
like, don't like change up, youknow, and then, just again, just
like what TO said, like, withtime, you just come together
Just be yourself.

Speaker 1 (08:35):
Yeah, be yourself, yeah, be yourself.
Yes, sir, of course, all right.
Well, any other things you guyswant to share about school,
anything about yourselves, anyshout-outs you want to give out?

Speaker 3 (08:48):
Now is the time to do it.
Shout-outs, oh man.
Shout-out to my football guys,man, especially my other three.
D Lyman, that's not here, thatwas here.
Four horsemen, four horsemen.

Speaker 2 (09:04):
Shout out to them for sure.
Yeah, the football teamespecially.
They get put down all the time.
But I just don't think peopleunderstand all the work that
they put in.
They work hard every single dayand they try their best.
It's a big mental thing withfootball being 0-10 last year
and then coming into this yearknowing that people aren't going
to have like they don't reallythink that we're going to win,

(09:24):
but like we know that we've beenworking hard and we're going to
put out a win this year.
I know we are.

Speaker 1 (09:29):
Definitely.

Speaker 2 (09:29):
Big shout-out to them we're going to win.
I know we are.

Speaker 1 (09:34):
Definitely.
One earlier said we got to havefun, and that's something that
I think everybody has to do inthis process is to have fun.
So, hey, this is out of themouth of babes the podcast for
our youth.
We'll be back.