Growing Up Pat Banya

Growing up, I wouldn't really consider any of the elements of my childhood out of the ordinary; but, as a minority, there were some things I had to endure from time to time. I have lived in Northern Virginia for pretty much all of my life, and it is a very diverse area due to it's close proximity to the Nation's Capital; the people that live here are from all over the world and tourism is high. As a kid, I occasionally had minor disagreements with people of different of backgrounds due to cultural reasons. But, I have always considered myself an American, in every sense of the word, so those issues were never long lasting. Going to school was like being in a miniature version of the United Nations because I was exposed to every ethnicity you can think of. If you are from the area or have worked here, you will know exactly what I'm talking about. Because of my experiences, I am very respectful and welcoming of anyone I encounter. Even the people on the message boards who like to give me a hard time!

I lived in a household with both parents and I was an only child until I was almost 6 years old. They both worked full time jobs; even after my brother was born my mother went back to work. This type of environment taught me the value of hard work. My father worked management positions at various business. He was a very methodical, driven, and disciplined individual. In his mind, there was little to no room for error, especially when it came to my schooling. His job was to be a good provider, the head of the household, and my role was to perform well in school by getting good grades. And, of course, there were consequences if his expectations were not met. My mother was and still is very caring, understanding, and protective of me. When I was really young, like before elementary school, she was going to school to become a hairstylist, and I remember how she used to cut my hair for both practice and necessity. We spent a lot of quality time together, and I developed an appreciation for soap operas that still rears it's head from time to time

After my brother was born, that kind of changed my outlook on life because I finally had someone like myself that I could play with. Of course, it took a few years before he was big enough so we could perform WWF finishing moves on each other, but he was always surprisingly strong for his age! Initially we all lived in an apartment complex, and later we moved into a single family home; a very big accomplishment considering my parents had no one to rely on and did it completely on their own. When we moved into the new house, almost immediately I was recruited as a paper boy, and started making deliveries to the surrounding houses. It was my first paying gig and it quickly made me familiar with my neighbors and community. I always looked forward to Christmas time because people would give me bonuses.

I was a very energetic child, but I never really had an outlet. Because grades were paramount, extra circulars and sports were never really encouraged or talked about. When my parents would ask me how school went I would tell them all the details, including gym class, but the emphasis was always on my core subjects. I was naturally very fast footed, but simultaneously very clumsy. It's not like I would trip over my own two feet, but hand eye coordination was never my forte. So, becoming a wide receiver, baseball, or basketball player were totally out of the question. I was interested in doing things like martial arts, but my father always insisted that I was too small, and would only end up getting hurt. And, also because of both my parent's busy work schedules taking me to and from practices would have been difficult for either of them. But, I distinctively remember being bothered that my father thought I wasn't physically capable. I've always felt he was practical to a fault; something about that made me want to strive to grow up to be very different from him.

September 13th, 1987. Meeting Jim at the hospital for the first time. I think, you can tell I was excited.

 Circa 1992. At the apartment complex we used to live in.

 
August 8th, 2009. At my first bodybuilding contest,