Blue and Gold Illustrated

WHERE HAVE YOU GONE? A‑Maysing Beauty Foundation that aids in the mentoring of young girls. That grew close to his heart because although the 31‑year‑old Mays is sin‑ gle and has no children, he is a proud uncle to his nieces. "We started this in 2010 because a friend shared how we mentor a lot of boys, but we don't really mentor a lot of young girls," Mays said. "If you look at TV, media or society, there aren't a lot of positive images of women right now for young girls to look at, especially from a male's point of view, as far as mentor‑ ing and putting value into them." The mission statement is to "develop the minds of young girls to think be‑ yond stereotypes and circumstances to create a well‑rounded life of productiv‑ ity, confidence, and self‑respect." Because most of his time is monopo‑ lized by his business travels, Mays no longer looks at his organization as a foundation but more of a collaborative effort with others to help pool resources and a common synergy. "Sometimes foundations can be mis‑ guided," Mays said. "A lot of people get caught up in just having a title, and they don't realize the time, the money, the re‑ sources that it takes to run a foundation. "With a more collaborative effort, I think we can achieve more." THE BIG PICTURE IS ALWAYS IN FOCUS Growing up in a household where his father was in the military and his mother was a teacher, Mays learned to appreciate discipline and education early in his life. "From the time I was 5 years old, my father was telling me about 'the real world,'" Mays said. "I didn't know what he was talking about, but he kept telling me, 'We're getting ready for the real world.' "So it wasn't really much of an ad‑ justment or culture shock to go to Notre Dame; it was more of an adjustment of going away from high school and the comfort of home to college." A USA Today second‑team All‑Amer‑ ica coming out of high school, Mays chose to attend Notre Dame, a decision that was not predicated on professional football aspirations. "The biggest component was edu‑ cation," he said. "The school wanted their athletes to graduate and were committed to it. It wasn't a state party school where things were going on all the time. I was able to look at the big picture and realize that it wasn't about putting in four years; it was about pre‑ paring for life. "I realized it was a sacrifice, but be‑ ing around prominent people, promi‑ nent students, people who were going to change the world, was going to lift me up. I was blessed to have a support system growing up that allowed me to see that." Redshirted as a freshman, Mays went through some tumultuous times that saw him play for three head coaches — Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham and Charlie Weis — in his five seasons, and even meet with a fourth, George O'Leary, for nearly a week. He also had several position coaches while trying to crack the lineup, which he couldn't at linebacker in any of his first four seasons while playing behind

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