Summary
In this Army and Navy Academy podcast companion blog, Barry Shreiar interviews Cezar Mansour (Class of 1984) on brotherhood and the power of hustle and authenticity. Cezar shares how Army and Navy Academy helped him move past self-doubt through structure, mentorship, and personal accountability, and why effort can outwork talent when you keep showing up. Parents and students will find practical takeaways on building character, resilience, and purpose, plus direct advice for cadets: own your effort, stay coachable, and stay true to your values.
Life Before ANA: When a Parent Makes the Hard Call
Cezar Mansour, Class of 1984, does not romanticize his story. He tells it the way he lived it, honest about what was hard, and clear about what changed. Most of all, he discusses how the hustle and authenticity that he learned at Army and Navy Academy led to lifetime success.
In his conversation with Army and Navy Academy President Barry Shreiar, Cezar says his path to campus started with his mom. She wanted structure and opportunity for her son, and she made the decision even when it was emotional and difficult. He shares a detail that still makes people smile because it feels so real: his mother told him she had already committed him to Army and Navy Academy by paying the year’s tuition, so in Cezar’s mind, that was that.
At a Glance: Key Takeaways
- A tough parenting decision can feel painful upfront, then become the turning point a young man credits for life.
- Structure is not punishment, it is the framework that helps a boy build self-discipline and confidence.
- Mentors matter, especially the adults who get a boy out of bed, get him to practice, and refuse to let him quit.
- Hustle can beat talent when talent stops working and effort keeps going.
- You have 100 percent control over your effort, and owning that changes everything.
- Authenticity is not stubbornness. Be coachable, but do not compromise your values to fit in.
- Brotherhood is not a phase at ANA, it becomes a lifelong advantage.
If you are a parent weighing a big decision right now, that moment probably lands. Because the hardest part is not writing the check or filling out the paperwork. The hardest part is choosing long-term growth when your child is upset in the short term.
Cezar admits he carried a lot of self-doubt as a kid. His dad was not around. His mom was busy. He did not feel like he had much attention, and that shaped him. Then he walked into a place where the adults noticed him. And not just in a surface way.
He remembers coaches, faculty, and staff stepping in and becoming “parents” for him. He did not fully understand it at the time, but he learned through the daily experience of it. He remembers them coming to get him out of bed when he wanted to sleep, waking him up, getting him to practice, pushing him, and moving him forward until it eventually became his own idea and an ingrained habit.
That is what good structure does for a boy. It is not about control. It is about consistency. It is adults who keep showing up until a young man learns how to show up for himself.
Formative Experiences at ANA: When Structure Becomes Self-Discipline
Cezar’s story is a strong example of something we see often at Army and Navy Academy. A boy can arrive unsure of himself, unmotivated, or stuck in excuses. He can also arrive with real potential, but no reliable system to pull it out of him.
Here, the system is the point. The daily rhythm, expectations, and accountability are not just “rules,” they are training. Over time, external structure can become internal structure. A boy starts to regulate himself, manage time, and follow through, not because someone is watching, but because it becomes part of who he is.
That shift is not always quick. It is learned. Cezar is clear about that. But once it clicks, it is powerful.
He describes what happens when a young man stops outsourcing responsibility. When he stops blaming the situation, the adults, or the circumstances. When he owns his decisions. That is where confidence starts to catch up to ability.
Mentors Who Shape a Young Man: The Bruce Maddox Lesson
When Cezar talks about the people who shaped him at the Academy, one name stands out: Bruce Manakas.
Cezar describes Manakas as a mentor, and he adds something that makes the memory vivid. Manakas had been a battalion commander at the school years before Cezar. Later, he came back and coached high school football, and he also taught driver’s ed.
But the role that mattered most to Cezar was “the adult who said the thing that stuck.”
Cezar remembers Manakas telling him, over and over: you can always outwork or hustle somebody who’s better than you.
So Cezar tested it.
When other guys finished practice, he kept practicing. He worked the move again. He worked the play again. He stayed longer. He did more reps. He treated effort like a strategy, not a mood.
And then something changed. Hustle stopped being something he did and became part of who he was.
Cezar even laughs about how mentoring works. If you asked Bruce Manakas today, he probably would not remember saying it. But it resonated with Cezar at 15 and a half years old, and it shaped how he competed, how he worked, and how he carried himself.
He saw it play out in real outcomes. A guy with more talent rests on that talent, and he stops pushing. Cezar kept pushing. Cezar made the cut. Cezar got the ball. Cezar made the move. Cezar beat him.
And Cezar is clear that this is not just a sports lesson. It is on the field and off the field.
He taught it to his own kids, too. They know the line well.
No whining. Keep trying.
That is direct. It is simple. And for a teenage boy, it is the kind of message that can become a lifelong anchor.
Brotherhood: One Fraternity, Built for Life
Cezar shifts from hustle to something just as important: brotherhood.
He describes the Academy’s brotherhood as similar to a fraternity at a college, but tighter. Smaller. And more unified. He makes the point in a way that is easy to picture: at a college, there might be 20 fraternities on campus. At ANA, there is one.
One brotherhood.
And for Cezar, it did not end at graduation.
Some of his best friends today, the people who have helped him throughout the years, are his brothers from the Academy. He calls it huge, not because it is a nice memory, but because it is practical. It lasts.
That matters for parents and cadets because teenage boys often underestimate relationships until later. They see friends as “who I hang out with.” They do not always see what those relationships can become: support, accountability, encouragement, connection, opportunity, and trust.
The brotherhood forms when boys go through hard things together. Shared routines. Shared standards. Shared wins and losses. It is not forced friendship. It is built loyalty.
Life After ANA: EXECUTING ON HUSTLE AND AUTHENTICITY
As Cezar reflects on life beyond the Academy, he comes back to one idea that shaped his success in every environment afterward:
You have 100 percent control over your amount of effort.
That line sounds simple, but he takes it further. He talks about excuses and how easy it is to give control away.
My parents aren’t there.
My parents aren’t this way.
My boss is like this.
Someone told me I’m not good enough.
Someone told me I am good enough.
Cezar’s point is not that those things do not affect you. His point is that they do not get to decide for you.
Once you get to the point where you understand you are in charge of you then you are in charge.
He admits that mindset is not easy. It is learned thinking. It is practiced. And he traces it back to being taught that as a young boy at the school.
Because once you embrace it, what is going to stop you?
You are going to do whatever you need to do to get it done.
That is the through-line of his story. ANA did not “hand” him success. It taught him how to own himself, and then he carried that into adulthood.
Authenticity: Be Coachable, But Do Not Compromise Yourself
Cezar’s other major message is about authenticity.
He pushes cadets to find their vision, drive, and purpose, and to align that with their values. And he also warns them: people will pressure you to change. People will want you to fit their expectations, their circle, their version of “acceptable.”
His guidance is straightforward: stay true to your values and your sense of purpose.
At the same time, Cezar makes room for something mature and important. Authenticity is not stubbornness. It is not refusing feedback. It is not ignoring coaching.
Be coachable.
Grow.
Listen.
But do not become a “pleaser” who reshapes himself to keep other people comfortable. Do not trade your identity for approval. Do not compromise who you are just to fit in.
That balance, coachable and grounded, is the kind of character that lasts. It is also the kind of character people trust.
Cezar’s Advice to Current Cadets
If Cezar were sitting across from a cadet who is struggling, distracted, or doubting himself, his advice would sound like this:
- Let the structure help you. Stop fighting what is trying to build you.
- Outwork the guy with more talent, and do it consistently.
- When you do not feel motivated, show up anyway. That is how the habit forms.
- Own your effort. You control it.
- Drop the excuses. Once you are in charge of you, everything changes.
- Be coachable, but do not compromise your values to fit in.
- Invest in brotherhood. Your best friends for life might already be here.
A Reassuring Word for Parents
Cezar’s story also offers something parents rarely get to see at the beginning: the long-term result.
A boy can arrive with self-doubt. He can arrive without much attention at home. He can arrive tired, resistant, or unsure. Then he enters a community of adults who show up consistently, push him, mentor him, and care enough to get him out of bed and into the work of becoming.
That process is not always comfortable.
But it is often transformative.
And it is deeply human.
At Army and Navy Academy, our mission is simple: we forge virtuous young men for life. This is the foundation upon which an ANA Warrior becomes the kind of man a family is honored to raise, classmates are proud to call ‘brother,’ and the world needs for positive impact.
If you want to hear Cezar’s full story in his own words, watch the podcast episode here: https://youtu.be/d9CJgvY7RlI
