Every Wednesday, Purchase Athletics will post a new workout or fitness plan in our #WorkoutWednesday feature. This week, however, we are switching things up as we recap today's virtual seminar presented by guest speaker and fitness guru Jay T. Maryniak.

PURCHASE, N.Y. – "We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one."

The quote, by Chinese philosopher Confucius, was life-changing for Purchase College guest speaker Jay T. Maryniak. So much so that he conveyed its message through his own life experiences, which he shared with more than 120 student-athletes in a virtual seminar over Zoom Wednesday afternoon. 

From a young age, Maryniak was a gifted athlete with a bright future in baseball—but he was also a troubled kid. He was in grade school when he started stealing from stores and smoking cigarettes; a teenager when he started using drugs and drinking alcohol. By the age of 15, he was smoking a pack and a half a day.    

"I wasn't allowed to hang out with friends from school. I was already slammed with a terrible reputation of being a bad kid…which I was," explained Maryniak.

Sports continued to be a constant in his life but so did the drugs and alcohol. As time went on, he became black-out drinker and started to experiment with more dangerous drugs, like Oxycontin, acid and cocaine, to feed his addiction.  

Maryniak knew he had a problem but it wasn't until the age of 20 that he reached his breaking point.

Listen to Maryniak's firsthand account of rehab, his reunion with the world of sports and his ongoing road to recover by clicking here.