Testimonies

The following are a few testimonies from teens that saw Bob Holmes, the one man volleyball team, in one of the many school assemblies that were held by Responsibility USA:

Hi Bob,
I was at one of the schools your showed the presentation to and I was amazed. You have really inspired me. I was never going to chose drugs or alcohol or smoking in the first place, but now you have truly showed me the dangers of these products. I do agree with you on how the alcohol, commercials, should show us what really happens. I have never seen something so bad happen to a person. Every year they tell us “Don’t do drugs” and “Don’t drink”, but everyone knew it. We never really payed attention to those things. We just thought that it would be the same lecture year after year and it was. No one really could get through to us. Until you came. People started crying during your presentation and so did I. You were truly the only person who could get through to us. It wasn’t just a lecture, it was reality. At first, I thought that they assembly was just all fun and games until you came down to business. You showed us that what these alcohol commercials show you are the lies. You showed us the truth….

I really just wanted to thank you so much! You are a true idol. I also think that every junior high and high school should watch your presentation. You could save a lot of lives doing that…

-Thanks Bob

Hi, I just wanted to say thank you for coming to our school. With the death of my aunt two weeks ago, and the death of my uncle on Friday night, all I have thought about is quitting. I have gone through a lot in my life and it just feels like it keeps getting worse. When i go back to thinking about the day you came, I always tell myself to keep going, and not quit. When I first heard you were coming, I though to myself, oh it’s just another person acting like they care and know how to help because so far all the people that have “tried” to help, have just made it worse. After you got here, I got a new thought, I actually changed my mind and said that yyou actually wanted to help. so thank you

Bob,
I am a 13 year old 8th grader. Your assembly today impacted me so much. The volleyball game was so awesome, I couldn’t stop smiling until you got serious. You see, two years ago I was seriously thinking about suicide. The feelings never really went away, even after I stopped having urges to just end my life right away. But you stood up and showed me that you really did care about that kid who cut himself with a razor blade. That you spoke from your heart and made the decision to encourage people to look forward, I notice I have much more to live for. I started crying at that point, you really are an amazing speaker.

You went on to show the girl in the car accident who burned for 45 seconds. That really was a wake-up call, even though consciously I never thought to even try drugs or alcohol. It hurt to think of what horrible things can happen… I’m so glad that we met you today. Usually, we get someone who tries to force this idea on us, saying “IT’S NOT COOL!”. We all know it’s not cool, but you gave us more reason that we would have ever thought of with some old man in a Hawaiian shirt.

Once again, thank you so much.
Beating the odds,
Demi

Dear Bob,
Hello my name is Jake Roede.  You came to my school, and played my volleyball team and me.When you spoke to us about how in life there is. No quitting even when times are hard, look ahead, and even how to stand alone when people are acting dumb. I was really touched and i understood greatly when you told us the stories. I was thinking you guys should make a commercial to influence teens there’s no quitting. After you left i thought to myself all of the stuff i i picked up, and now i have a new hero. I look up to you because you are like the living superman you got skills and you can speak to teens and have them understand.

Thank you so much you gave me the courage to never quit. I really thought no one was nice enough to come to a school just for the kids. Not for money, not for anything in return but then you came along. So I just wanna thank you for coming your speech really taught me a lesson. Thanks again!

Hello Bob,
I’m a student at Scott Middle School and you were at my school Wednesday. Since you told me about the teenagers killing them self I was shocked. From what you said I started saying to myself that the way my life is isn’t my fault, because im a dwarf and so people point and laugh, and then i think of what you said that day and I forget it. So thank you.

Hi bob my name is Vince, I was at your recent assembly.  and i just wanted to let you know how much of an impact your message made on me. I wasn’t thinking about suicide but i was thinking on the down side of life, and i wanted to tell you that what you said made me realize how much there is to appreciate in life and how much i realized just walking back to my classroom and i wanted to thank you for that. your message is very important and i really think you should keep pushing to get your message to the public. once again thank you.

Hi, my name is Ramy Elian. I am very inspired with people like you in our world. There should be more people like this going out, and sending the messages to teens and children around the world. Well I am only the age of thirteen and I am one of those people, I will never do drugs, smoke, or do anything that will harm my body.

Hi my name is Meagan Pinkowski. I’m 14 years old. A couple weeks back you came to my school and I’d just like to say that i really took to heart what you said. One point a few months back i wanted to take my life…but i thought to myself I’m better then that and i was destined for greatness. So i wanted to let you know what your doing is so great and i think your really helping people get through there problems!

Dear Bob,
My name is Katie and I was at your presentation. I thought your presentation was great and also the games you played. I was surprised when you told us you were 54 years old and you are still playing volleyball like you do (which you are really good at by the way). I think it is great that you told that you told that kid with aids that you would play until you couldn’t move. I think you speaking about suicides, drunk driving, and diseases that can kill kids is a great thing to be doing. I would never think about killing myself because of all the hurt. I would make my friends and family go through. I can’t even think about kids killing themselves or driving drunk (or just getting in the car with someone drunk) and killing someone else. There are the kids though that do stupid things and end up killing someone or themselves. My friends’ cousin killed himself and, I know how her and her family felt so. I would never do something like that. I would never drive drunk or get in a car with someone drunk because if I accidentally killed someone there would be a lot of guilt on me and if I got killed also the guilt would be on my friends and/or my family. Your presentations are great and the pictures (even though they were sad) were a good idea. For some kids someone can tell them a million times and they wouldn’t listen but for some someone can show them a picture like you did can change their minds. Most people wouldn’t care about things like this. They only care about themselves but there a few like you who do care and I think it is great that you speak about it. So thank you for coming to our school and talking to us about these things. Your speech today was interesting, moving, and very important. I also want to say thank you for the great volleyball games they were interesting!