By: Breanna Jacobs
This morning, the Penn State community suffered the loss of its greatest legend.
Former head football coach Joe Paterno passed away at the age of 85. Paterno had been in the hospital since Jan. 13 and his death is attributed to health complications stemming from his lung cancer treatments.
Paterno was not just a Penn State legend, but he was an inspiration and, although I never met him personally, he has had a profound impact on my life, and I believe that many Penn State students and alumni would say the same. From the time I spent at football games, and the time I spent listening to Paterno speak at pep rallies and press conferences, I learned many lessons that I will carry with me throughout my life.
The first lesson I learned from Joe Paterno is to love unconditionally.
On the night of Paterno’s 400th career win, crowded into the stands at Beaver Stadium with my fellow students, my eyes were fixed on the scoreboard as cameras captured one of the most beautiful moments I have ever seen: as Paterno and his family came onto the field, Paterno embraced his wife, Sue, and they both looked at each other with a look that was straight out of a Hollywood romance.
I have never witnessed a love more true than the love between Mr. and Mrs. Paterno. Whenever he talked about his wife, Paterno’s eyes lit up in a very special way. Theirs was a love story for the ages, and I can only hope that someday we are all able to experience that same kind of love.
Paterno also taught me to always put family first.
Although he was a football coach by trade, his true job was to be a husband, father and grandfather. Paterno loved his wife, his children and his grandchildren more than anything, and it showed whenever he talked about them.
While his career as a football coach was extremely important to him, it is evident that Paterno cared much more about the well-being of his loved ones than about the money in his pocket, which brings me to the next lesson I learned from Joe Paterno:
It is more important to be charitable than to live a lavish lifestyle.
Over his 61 years spent at Penn State, Paterno donated millions of dollars to the university. Without Paterno’s donations, we would not have the incredible Paterno Library or the soon-to-be-completed Sue Paterno Catholic Center.
The Paterno family also donated a great deal of money to Penn State Dance Marathon, otherwise known as THON, which raises money to help find a cure for pediatric cancer.
Paterno and his family lived in the same humble home on McKee Street during his entire career at Penn State. While Paterno certainly earned enough to inhabit the biggest of State College homes, he instead chose to donate countless paychecks to the university and carry on his modest lifestyle.
Lastly, Paterno taught me that it is possible to change people’s lives.
In his time at Penn State, Paterno did not just change the lives of the men he coached; he changed the life of every single student that walked through the gates at Beaver Stadium.
But, above all, Paterno taught us all to, “believe deep down in your heart that you’re destined to do great things.”
Paterno was a remarkable human being and he meant, and will continue to mean, so much to the Penn State community.
While this is not an easy loss to comprehend, legends never die and we will never forget the contributions that Paterno made to this university and the lessons that we all learned from this incredible man.
We Are, and Joe Paterno will forever be, Penn State.
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