Humans of South Forsyth – Brian Nelson

Kate Geiger, Columns Editor

Mr. Brian Nelson takes an advantage of his window-view office, watching the sight of South Forsyth High School. He has been there for one year as the ninth grade administrator. He has been in the teaching career for sixteen years. Mr. Nelson’s intentions are to make learning entertaining for the students. While in New York at age seventeen, an inspiring moment came to him. 

The most inspiring moment in my life. I got to think about that for a moment. You know, I remember being young and I was about seventeen years old or so. And I grew up, I didn’t know my dad growing up. And so when I was seventeen, I decided that I was going to go to find him. So, I hired an investigator to find him.  And the investigator gave me an address and this is in New York. I’m from New York. And I went to the address. Actually, my grandfather took me to the address and you know I walked the steps, rang the doorbell. A woman answered the door and I said ‘Hey, I’m looking for this man, does he live here” and she said ‘Oh, I know who you are talking about. He actually just moved from here a few months ago’. And I was kinda crushed. And about a week later, I was telling this story. Actually, I was getting a haircut at a barbershop, telling this story. And, I told him ‘hey, I am so disappointed because I didn’t get to meet him that day’. And what the barber told me. Actually, it was super inspiring. He said ‘now, you’re seventeen’. He said ‘you’re getting to graduate high school right’. I said ‘yeah’. He said ‘you’re working a job, right’. He said, ‘you’re going to college right?’ and I said ‘Right’ and he said ‘sounds like you’re on your way to becoming a man” and I said “I would agree’ and he said ‘Don’t you need the right people in your life to become a man’. I said ‘I do’. He said, ‘I’ll tell you this, you not have met your actual father, but all the people in your life who have loved you have provided everything that your father would have provided and given you everything you need to become a man. And I can tell because you are becoming a man,’ And I just thought, Wow… I spent so much time in my life thinking about the person that I didn’t have and in that moment it really inspired me and it made me realize how many people I have in my life that were giving me all of the love and support I needed and it just kind of changed my perspective and lifted me up.”