Tuchel always just trusted me and gave me a chance. Of course, he's given me tips and feedback with what he sees every day in training and stuff like that, small things.
Wenger gave me the opportunity to be where I am today. He's a coach that helped me a lot, who gave me a chance, who's always been there for me in the bad moments. He called me, consoled me, gave me good advice, told me what I had to do to become a great player. I can only thank him.
When I was growing up, there was a man who gave me lessons and things. I'm very dyslexic so he used to give me extra reading and writing. And he always knew that I was interested in stuff but he never told me that he was in the Second World War himself. One day he gave me his helmet that he had worn through the North Africa Campaign. It was just before he died. So I've got his helmet. That was pretty special to me.
I guess my faith in Jesus Christ is what kept me going day by day. I just trusted in him and I believe that he's the one who gives me the strength and ability to overcome struggles and problems day to day. I'm just grateful for him, as he has blessed me with just an amazing family that has supported me through every step of the way.
Being a waitress can be a very brutal job sometimes, and I remember during the training, the person said to me, "The redder the lips, the better the tips," and that was like the only advice she gave me.
Sometimes when you're relegated to your neighborhood, you forget that there's more important things than your neighborhood going on out in the world. And that just gave me a chance to see how life could be. And it gave me a chance to interact with everybody, not just black people or Mexicans. It made me just a little more worldly.
I like hanging with my family and helping them on their way however I can. There's a new tragicomedy every half-hour, there is laughter, there are tears, and it's all real. They are endlessly entertaining, they have given me so much, they've given me a chance to 'see' things again.
For me specifically, I think college benefited me. Just getting me out of doing, getting me out of what I was doing before. I was just doing the same thing, you know, every day, same schedule, just practicing, training, things like that.
'The Daily Show' was like my family. We had dogs in the office every day, all day. It was just such a warm, beautiful, sweet experience for me. Choosing to leave the show was so hard because I really, really loved everybody there, and I loved what it gave me and the platform it gave me.
It was the old psychosomatic side-step. Everyone in my family dances it at every opportunity. You've given me a splitting headache! You've given me indigestion! You've given me crotch rot! You've given me auditory hallucinations! You've given me a heart attack! You've given me cancer!
No one has ever given me anything. No one gave me a tour card, no one gave me a US tour card, no one gave me a nice house and a Ferrari: I've had to work for every penny I have earned and I'm proud of that.
My country owes me nothing. It gave me, as it gives every boy and girl, a chance. It gave me schooling, independence of action, opportunity for service and honor.
I always show loyalty to the people who gave me a chance from the get-go, and Cincinnati gave me that chance.
I was just at a point where waking up every day was a struggle. Coming out of every training session and wanting to cry, and having no confidence, not believing in myself and it's kind of this vicious cycle of focusing on all these things that I couldn't control and it was just eating away at me and pulling me down and I just wasn't happy anymore.
I spent two summers working at Camp Curry and at Yosemite Lodge as a waiter. It gave me a chance to really be there every day - to hike up to Vernal Falls or Nevada Falls. It just took me really deep into it. Yosemite claimed me.
When I started playing professionally, it made me realize that I had a voice in the league, one that gave me the chance to share a different side of our day-to-day life and the things that were happening on and off the court.
There is stuff going on inside me. But I have always been told to go out there and pitch like you can't tell if you just struck somebody out or just gave up a home run. If something bad happens, I don't dwell on it. Just give me the ball and let me pitch.