Stories of Struggle and Success: Young Men’s Professional Dinner

by Kassandra Nevarez, Marketing and Communications Assistant

Every year Row New York hosts an annual Young Men’s Professional Dinner so our students have the opportunity to sit with young professionals who are eager to share their life experiences. This year was nothing less than stellar, with six amazing men sharing their stories, advice, struggles, aspirations, and careers.

Uriah Hall

You either win or you learn.

Uriah Hall is an MMA Fighter in the UFC. He emigrated from Jamaica to Queens as a young child. Back then, he struggled with racism and bullying. As told by him, the bullying got so bad that his mental health struggled. His mom encouraged him to try karate which quickly became his passion and outlet for frustration. It built his confidence.

As a young adult, Uriah tried out for a reality show called The Ultimate Fighter. Full of hope and confidence, he bought a one-way ticket to tryouts in Vegas. He had no way to come back home and he was determined to make it onto the show. Not only did he succeed at the tryouts, but he finished as the runner-up for that season!

Uriah’s advice was to always be true to yourself. He urged our young men to be limited editions of themselves rather than imitations of others and emphasized that it’s okay to be weird. He advised them to be good human beings. Although he warned them that life will hit them hard, he assured them that everything happens for a reason.

For him, failure is a choice, and if you learn from your struggles, you will never really fail. For him, “you either win or you learn”.

Jordan Hagedorn

The two best days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why

Jordan Hagedorn is an NFL Agent and the Director of Marketing and Partnerships at Sneaker News. From a young age, Jordan always loved sports and sneakers. At age 12, he couldn’t afford to buy all of the sneakers he liked so he started his own business. Jordan mowed lawns and brought in over twenty clients. He also bought and sold sneakers (and now has a collection of over 650 pairs!). He leveraged his valuable lessons about business and applied them throughout high school and college. Jordan went to college for graphic design but learned that he didn’t like to sit at a computer all day. Instead, Jordan realized that he was really passionate about sneakers and after a particularly successful weekend of shoe sales, he dropped out of college to pursue his career.

Jordan advised our boys to be lifelong learners. He told our athletes to listen, to appreciate everything they have, not to make excuses or constantly complain. He spoke about losing his home when he was in high school and even though it was one of the hardest experiences he has had, he wouldn’t change it because life’s struggles make you who you are. Above all, he said, be yourself!

Nate Cambridge

Follow your passions

Nate Cambridge is an Elementary School Teacher at KIPP NYC. Back in the day, Nate loved playing basketball. Unfortunately, he got injured and had to consider other career choices. Nate graduated with a degree in journalism and then worked in retail (which he did not like). Eventually, he had the opportunity to work at a group home for boys––a job that was both challenging and rewarding. Nate worked there for five years and learned that he wanted to make an impact on young people’s lives. Nate reflected on how he never had teachers who looked like him while he was growing up and he was eager to become kind of role model for others. For those reasons, Nate decided to teach elementary school. When asked about the hardest part of his job, Nate replied that school days are long but he told us that his students are hilarious and brilliant, which makes it all worthwhile.

Nate’s advice to our student-athletes was to always try new things so you can find out which things you like and to always follow your passions.

James Hill

Be patient with the process

James Hill is a former player for the Seattle Seahawks and current CX Consultant at StellaService. The hardest thing he accomplished was making it to the NFL. He told us that people know that it is hard to get to the NFL and that it is hard work to be a professional athlete but people don’t necessarily see the years and years of hard work and discipline that lead to that career. After the NFL, James took some time to figure out what new career he wanted to pursue. He was invited to a networking event and he didn’t want to go because he was dreading awkward small talk with complete strangers. James decided to push himself outside of his comfort zone and go to the event anyways. There, he heard a panelist speak and use familiar phrases. He approached her later to talk about a book where he had heard those phrases and found out that she read the book too! They spoke about the book and she later offered James a job. James recently started here, loves the company culture and is training to build his new career.

James’ advice to our boys: look to work at a place where you like the people you’re working with, have a growth mindset and to learn to meditate as a way to take care of yourself.

Ed Castro

The world doesn’t owe you but the world wants to help you.

Ed Castro is a motivational speaker who works at the Department of Education. He was always a hard worker and frequently held more than one job. After being laid off from a different job, he decided to use his free time to advocate for one of his two sons, who has Asperger’s Syndrome. Ed felt that his son was not getting the resources he needed to succeed at his school so he did some research and began to teach people at his son’s school what he learned. Later on, Ed realized that this kind of advocacy was his passion and he knew that if he really wanted to change a school, then he had to work from the inside out. Ed began his work with the Department of Education and now he trains administrators from several schools. He is especially proud of his work with one school in particular, which he helped have a “180 degree turn around”.

When asked what advice he would have given his 17 year-old-self, he said “advocate for yourself, don’t miss opportunities, don’t hold everything in because there are people that can and want to help you succeed. Always have grit, gratitude and growth.”

Prashan Nimalan

Absorb everything

Prashan Nimilan is a Technology Consultant Manager at PwC. He always liked science growing up and majored in bioengineering in college. Prashan learned that he didn’t really want to a scientist so he decided to study computer science instead. Like the some of the other panelists, Prashan completely switched paths and is now in the tech industry. When our students asked what the hardest park of his job is, Prashan said that the hardest part was also the most rewarding- switching between projects and having to start some projects before you finish others is difficult and you have to learn fast, but he enjoys being able to regularly do something new. This fast pace makes his job interesting.

Prashan’s advice was to make time to do the things that you like to do and not only the things you have to do. He says it’s good to be a sponge and absorb all the knowledge you can because you never know when it’ll come in handy. If you make time to nurture your interests and learn about all different things, then it’s more likely to find something you like.

---

Thank you Uriah, Jordan, Nate, James, Ed, and Prashan for sharing your stories and advice with our young men! Our athletes now know that, like you all, they too can find success when they fail, when they face hardships, and when they switch paths.

For photos from the event, click here to see our Facebook album.

Tags