One day when I was subbing, I saw a sheet of paper on the teacher’s desk that read, “Dear Faculty, Do you have any talents and abilities you would like to share with the student body? If so, sign up for the Faculty Follies!”

A teacher talent show? Immediately the thought popped into my mind: Why not dribble to music?!! I had never done it before and had no clue how I was going to do it. But the thought turned into a vision, and soon the vision turned into action.

So after about 10 hours of choreographing (never thought you’d hear Occh say that right??) the dribbling to the music, it was time to perform. A sellout crowd of 500 kids that see me in the hallways everyday, students I had grown to love over the past 4 years, packed the Memorial High School auditorium. Needless to say I was nervous!!

My arms were shaking, and my stomach was completely in knots. I remember standing behind the closed curtain praying, telling the Lord it was all for him. As my name was announced and the curtain opened, the kids went crazy, having no clue what this white boy sub was going to do with a basketball in his hand.

Then the ball hit the floor. I think 500 jaws simultaneously dropped. Even more than the dribbling itself, these kids were shocked that it was “Mr. O” doing it. I had a talent the world didn’t know about, and all this time it was hidden from people who saw me everyday. As the music ended and the curtain closed, the place erupted, and I experienced an incredible satisfaction of knowing I went for and accomplished something big.

This video is a performance I did about a year later at my school. Two years later I’m doing motivational assemblies all over the country, motivating people to live for something amazing, something so much bigger than themselves.

What are your hidden talents? A faculty talent show gave birth to a vision called Create the Crossover–Imagine what might happen if you let your dream out to the world.