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Note: This story appeared in the Fall 2019 November edition of CoSIDA 360 Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.
From the President's Desk
The Gift of Making An Impact
by Herb Vincent – CoSIDA President 2019-20 / Southeastern Conference Associate Commissioner/Communications
One of the great opportunities we have in the communications profession is the ability to tell stories that are human and moving, stories that evoke emotions and reveal life-changing perspectives.
Such was a story penned recently by one of our colleagues. What made this story unique was the fact that it was a very personal story, a story about the writer himself.
Mike Scala is in his 19th year as Director of Sports Publicity for Montclair State University. He’s a one-man shop who handles all communications for the Red Hawks’ 18 sports.
Any routine he may have developed in his nearly two-decade service to Montclair State was shattered in January when he was diagnosed with colon cancer, followed by eight rounds of chemotherapy. Through it all he persevered, and in doing so made an impact in ways even he did not comprehend.
In September, he revealed his medical condition on social media and told a story that is a lesson in many ways for all of us:
Mike gave us all a gift by sharing this story. It’s a story that tells us that we are in a position to have an impact on young people, to teach them lessons, to make them better and to prepare them for a better life.
It tells us that, when we step out of our comfort zone, we can do amazing things and we can move people in ways they did not know they could be moved.
It also tells us about what is important in life, and that is life itself. The teams and student-athletes we serve work hard every day and their efforts are measured in wins and losses. But Mike Scala has been fighting through the most important game of his life for 10 months and we are all praying he will crush his opponent for the biggest win of all.
Thank you, Mike, for sharing your story. And thank you for helping us understand the impact all of us in college athletics can have on the student-athletes around us who are looking for inspiration from courageous leaders like you.
Herb Vincent
Southeastern Conference
CoSIDA President 2019-20
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