Professional wrestling is tenth-grader Tyler Marino’s favorite thing in the world. When his Roselle Park teacher and member of the Roselle Park Education Association, Jon Silberlight, read about the Reading is the CURE—WWE essay contest sponsored by NJEA and CURE Arena that would offer the winner of the contest seats and t-shirts to a WWE event, Silberlight knew he had to share the essay contest with Marino.
The winning entry needed to showcase a trait that the student admired about a professional wrestler, why that trait was important, and what steps the student would take to improve that trait within themselves.
“Out of all the character traits I have mentioned above, the one that I love the most is strength, not just physically but mentally,” states Marino in his winning essay. “Strength is an important part of life not just WWE. You need strength to do many things and you need to use your mind. Always do better than you did yesterday; keep pushing yourself to do better and always follow your dreams. For me, my dream would be to work for the WWE one day. Overall, being a fan of wrestling is so much fun and I enjoy every aspect of it. Wrestling has definitely changed my life. So, always have strength to follow your dreams, keep pushing yourself like Lacey Evens, work hard like Roman Reigns and believe in yourself.”
After the committee read his essay, his passion and enthusiasm radiated off the page. It was then that the statement provided by his teacher, Mr. Silberlight, was read:
“Tyler is a very special young man,” states Silberlight. “And, he is working extremely hard to be successful. His entire life revolves around the WWE. He comes to school every day wearing a WWE t-shirt. I believe that his love of the WWE has given Tyler the courage he needed to take some major steps in his life.”
Tyler attended the WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event at the Cure Arena on May 7 and noted that it was one of the best wrestling events he has ever attended. “Tyler has overcome so many challenges these last few years as a child with autism. Seeing him this happy and proud for being chosen as the winner of the NJEA essay contest has meant a lot to me and his dad,” said his mom, Alicia Marino.