“In which regard? What am I most proud of at this moment, or overall what is the thing I’ve done in my life that makes me the most proud?”
“Answer it any way you like.”
I paused, not because it was a tough question, but because it was an easy one that required little thought.
“I was a state champion in wrestling my senior year of high school, then went on to become an All-American, placing third in the nation,” I said, and had the urge to continue, wanting her to understand just how much wrestling had meant to me in the wake of everything that had happened, how it was the one thing to which I had clung to make sense of the world. My mind went blank for a time, lost in reminiscence, and when it returned, Cathy was watching me closely with the same look shrinks sometimes give you when you’re close to a breakthrough, when you’ve dug deeper than your comfort zone normally allows.
“Nothing in this world has taught me discipline more than wrestling has,” I said. “You have to factor in dieting and weight loss, which don’t exist in other sports, but in wrestling they are just as much a part of the sport as practice is. If you want to wrestle in the tournament on Saturday, you’d better have the discipline to watch what you eat during the week leading up to it. Otherwise you’re sitting in the stands watching with the spectators. It’s because of wrestling that I’m every bit as disciplined in my approach to life and work today as I was back then. I learned that hard work does in fact pay off.”
“I can understand that,” Cathy said. “And third in the nation? That’s very impressive.”
“Thank you,” I said. “But I should have taken first.”
Cathy smiled, and from there the interview segued to a friendly conversation as I’d hoped it would, both of us laughing like old pals who hadn’t seen one another in ages. I had no trouble answering her questions and I asked plenty of my own as well. When we finally finished I was certain I had the job.
“Well, that’s all I have for you,” she said. “Do you have anything else you’d like to add before we end?”
“Only that I want this job,” I said. “I really do. I’ll work hard for you. You have my word on that.”
“I don’t doubt that,” she said. “It’s been a pleasure, Stratton.”
“For me as well.”
“Can I offer just a small bit of advice for the future?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Go easy on the aftershave for interviews.”
I smiled, stood, and shook her hand.