When Kathy Rackley was parsing through the best seller section of a Barnes & Noble in George, she began talking the ear off a nice young man.
The nice fellow in question? University of Georgie's star athlete, Wide Receiver Malcolm Mitchell. Rackley told Mitchell about the book club she just joined.
"I mean he like stepped back and he said 'You did? You did?' and he said, 'Can I join your book club?' " Rackley recalled. "And I said, 'I don't know if you want to join mine. We're all 40-, 50-, and 60-year-old women.' "
Mitchell didn't bother to tell her who he was. "I knew they were going to find out," Mitchell said. "But I wasn't going to say it."
The football star has held his place as one of the top recruits of the University of Georgia Bulldogs. Nonetheless, while playing on the field has always come naturally to him, hitting the books has been hard.
When he first arrived at college, he could only read at a junior-high level. Though it's been difficult, he has applied himself to literacy with the full force and discipline of any athlete.
"That came natural," Mitchell said of his athleticism. "That's a gift. I had to work to read." Literacy is essential but there aren't always the resources for it; just recently a young boy begged his mailman for junk mail because he couldn't afford books.
Fortunately the boy, and Mitchell, have found a way around the limitations imposed up on them.
When asked what his biggest accomplishment was, Mitchell answered with pride: "I finished the Hunger Games series in about two days."
See how a group of middle-aged women transformed one football star with a thirst for knowledge below.
Please SHARE if you're glad Mitchell was able to find a community that would allow him to thrive.
