Confidence is key. Confidence is more than how a person carries themselves. It plays a role in how people treat others, react to a situation and more. Anton French is a hall monitor at FHN. French has achieved a lot throughout his life so far. He was drafted by the Cardinals to play right out of high school at the age of 17. French also played for the Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Rays, Seattle Mariners and the Detroit Tigers; therefore, through this experience he learned the impact having confidence has in life.

“I gained confidence,“ French said. “When you are happy with what you’re doing you’re going to find yourself more confident with who you are.“

French retired at 33 and was then hired by the Philadelphia Phillies to be a coordinator. He taught base-running and bunting to the entire Phillies organization. After spending many years on the field, he moved back to Saint Louis to make it easier on his son. French got his first job outside of baseball working for AT&T as a customer service representative.

“I was pretty good with dealing with people already, angry people,” French said. “It made me better dealing with people in general.”

French’s new role is as a hall monitor here at FHN, but he plays more roles than just walking the halls. Having a lot of experience in many different things has taught French life lessons that he now likes to share with his own kids, as well as the students.

“I got all this good stuff to help you out with your confidence,” French said. “Life is about confidence really. What you deal with, how you cope, your mechanism. If you’re finding it hard to cope with things, you won’t generally find yourself a happy individual. Learning these things come with time, and comes with talking with people that’s been through it.”