Dana White, King of MMA

Knowledge of Catholic Doctrine C, Reading D, Comprehension needs improvement,
Word Knowledge needs improvement, Effort in Class needs improvement, Math C,
English satisfactory, Grammar Skills failed, Written Expression needs improvement,
Spelling D, Science failed, Social Studies C, Penmanship needs improvement, Art
satisfactory, Music C. Yet when tested by the school when he first applied, to
determine where he was academically on the SRA Achievement Series, he scored
mostly at or above the national average, which meant he was not even trying. He
soon began to like school life at St. Viator’s, however, and the following year, moved
on to Bishop Gorman High School, where he attended with his current UFC partner
Lorenzo Fertitta.
Most of the kids Dana went to school with at Gorman came from wealthy families.
I was working anywhere from eight to twenty-four hours a day seven days a week to
pay for school and the mortgage and the day to day bills, and so I didn’t have a lot of
free time or extra money. Dana’s father never paid his child support or provided
health insurance for Dana or Kelly as was agreed to in the divorce decree. It was nice
that Dana’s friends at Gorman had second homes in places like Coronado, California;
Park City and Brian Head, Utah; and other places where the rich apparently
congregate. Dana was always being invited to go skiing or to the beach with his
friends’ families. I never asked Dana to work while he was in high school, and so it
was easy for him to go places with his friends when he was invited. Dana joined the
ski club at Gorman, and for Christmas that year, I bought him skis, bindings, boots,
and all the clothes he needed to go skiing. Previously, he had to rent everything, and
all his friends had their own skis, boots, and other equipment, which embarrassed
Dana.
Dana liked going to these places and seeing all the nice things money could buy. I
thought these trips a good lesson and hoped he would see that, if he worked hard and
was good at what he did, then there was reward at the end. I also thought that having
rich, powerful friends does not hurt either. I always told Dana, “I don’t care what you
choose to do in life, but make sure you’re the best at it. Do it one hundred percent.
Do not just be mediocre or put your time in everyday.”