Introduction Post

My name is Brandon Padierna and this is my story.  I grew up in a town that measures one square mile in diameter so you could imagine how closed minded of a kid i was.  I was only interested in two things in high school, academics and sports.  Growing up in a tiny town like Wallington, New Jersey, I never could wrap my head around what was outside this miniature Polish town that always smelled like beer and pierogi's.  I graduated with 89 kids my senior year of high school in 2015 and everyone knew everything about everybody.  For a small school, everyone i knew had big dreams.  The further you went away for college and the bigger school was, the more people believed that "you've made it".  This was my dream.  I graduated high school, eventually got into Rutgers University where i believed i would be set for the rest of my life.

This is my high school in Wallington New Jersey.  In comparison to my friends in college it seemed as though i went to the smallest high school known to man! On this front lawn I graduated with my class of 89 kids and was so proud to accept my diploma, mostly because i was getting out of this prison. :)

Sports have been my whole life.  I played 3 varsity sports in high school including football, track and field, and bowling.  Sports gave me an outlet to express myself and build the drive and motivation necessary to succeed in the world.  I also trained in Mixed Martial Arts for 7 years.  Sports are a constant reminder that i am capable of anything as long as i am willing to push through that barrier of pain.

This is my beautiful and intelligent mother Naty.  She raised me to be the man i am today. Her love is a daily reminder that i need to work as hard as she did to ever repay her for everything she has done for me and my family.  She was always there for all the sick days, injuries, and gloomy days and i want to become successful in life so i have the ability to care for her.

This is my grandfather Augustine Padierna.  I never knew my father but he's as close to a father i will ever have in my life.  He has taught me how to be a man and times get hard and how to be a friend when times get sad.  In his old age, my grandfather has had difficulties in his health and i use this as motivation to work even harder.

Even though i was a happy child, i have faced major adversity through out my life.  Before i started playing sports in high school, i was battling severe obesity at a young age and at age 12 i was over 210 lbs! I dealt with bullying for a large part of my life and had a huge impact on my perception of myself.  Even in the face of adversity, i turned my head and had enough of the bullying and enough of the depression.  I started playing sports and going to the gym regularly and helped my family begin to make healthy life style choices.  Even though this was a very dark time in my life, i would never choose to forget where i came from.  Pushing through several barriers of pain i began to recreate myself and instead of letting the anger from my childhood control me, i use that anger and became pissed for greatness.