Blessing in Disguise

It was my senior year of high school football and all I could do was sit on the bench with an injury. It was so frustrating because all I wanted to do was be on the field playing with my brothers like I have since freshman year. I was just so happy to be on the field on those Friday nights and just get to play the game made me so happy when I first started playing. Until I got a big head and started thinking about myself and what I was going do that game or how many touchdowns I was going to score that game. I stopped thinking about the team because of my success. I think this might be a lesson I needed to learn and if I did not, I would have had a big head my whole senior year and never would have saw the real reasons why I loved playing

It only took us twenty minutes to be up 2-0 against a team, our main rivals Clements, we had not beaten them for twenty years and who were also former state champions. It was the best feeling ever, seeing the confusion in their faces from being down to us. All the work we had put in that year was finally translated into the field, where it truly matters. Toe to toe with a team they said we had no chance against, I beg to differ. All was going well, until early in the second half they had scored a goal. I could sense the timorous feeling beginning to rise within my teammates, but I never doubted them and knew we still had a

It was that time of the year again, football season. Football is a sport in which I am very passionate about, I never knew I could or would be so passionate towards something, until one very specific game. It was a Saturday afternoon, the breeze was just right, the temperature was just right; not to cold and not too hot. Being the first game of the season I didn’t know if I was going to play or not. However, I was proven wrong Coach Smith hollered “Shawn!” I stood up startled at first and right then and there I knew that was my moment to shine and shine is what I did.

With my eyes glued to the ball. Just waiting for the center to snap it to the quarterback I made sure my cleats were dug in and ready to go. As the center moved the ball I charged forward shoving the center out of the way and slamming my shoulder into the quarterback and taking him down before he had a chance to blink. After the play, there was time to think to myself about the past week, the events that had transpired, the important decision I had made, and about that one sunny day at practice.

Since I was a little kid I had trouble with obesity, and controlling it. I wasn’t super active or athletic, except for in the summer when I swam for my summer league swim team, I didn’t like fruit or vegetables all that much, and I loved to eat junk food. And with my family, I didn’t feel like change was necessary in order to achieve success in life, so I didn’t really try to be physically fit,

As all my teammates ran up to congratulate me on my 55 yard touchdown I realized that we were still in this game. As I stood in the end zone, I finally started to realized what I had just done. I had finally proven myself to everyone including my teammates and my coach. Perhaps most importantly of all, however, I had proven to myself that I had what it took to play on the varsity level. It was something I had yet to prove before that game and is something that I will never

Weighing in at a whopping 225 pounds, I somehow had to get out of this funk. Although football was out of the picture because of my injury, I decided to get back in shape by getting a gym membership; I kept using the discipline and work ethics from football to help motivate me. I knew losing the weight would be a very hard thing to do, but I was capable of losing all of the weight and get in even better shape than I was before because of all of the hard work I put in when I did play football. I finally realized playing football was a learning experience that could help me strive in the future, especially through this period of my

It was the last game of the season, a televised football competition vs Murphy high school, a big rivalry game that Vigor was projected to lose. Going into the game I never knew how much this game would change my life. Down 28-27 in the fourth quarter with three minutes and eight seconds left on the game clock, my teammates and coaches leaned on me to close out the game to help ensure a victory.

That day I had gotten tougher than I ever have before in football.After that year I have carried on football for three more years,ever since I scored that touchdown I've liked football.

A senior linebacker I had been playing behind acted as a mentor and helped me with whatever I struggled with. Everything was different on varsity: practices were stricter, games were more competitive, and everyone wanted a starting spot desperately. After my injury I came to practice and tried to support my team and do anything I could to make them better. However, every second I stood on that sideline was a second I prayed I could still be playing. This sense of emptiness fueled me to work harder at everything I did. I hit the weight room as much as I could so I would be less behind in my next season, I started running as soon as my doctor allowed me, and I kept my grades up and studied to set a good example for my team and ensure I would have no problems next

When I was in the fourth grade I gained weight because of the other students in elementary school bullying me. I never knew what I did wrong enough to deserve to be bullied. To this day, I still do not know. It was in the summer before fifth grade that I stopped eating. I never told anyone, but I lost all the weight I put on, and then some. There were days when I would eat one meal a day and others where I would eat too much. I never knew what my eating disorder was until seventh grade.

Losing weight required realistic goals. I had to learn to not think a one-time fix was all I needed to lose weight. I had to learn true patience. I ate apples and carrots for a day and I enervated myself through as many pushups and situps as I could in 1 day and never picked it up again. In hindsight, my goal shouldn’t have been to lose fat, but follow a diet and routine that I won’t get frustrated with.

Beginning high school can be intimidating especially being a cheerleader so automatically the standards were raised for me. The stereotypical cheerleader is short, thin, has long hair, a pretty face, and is liked by everyone. I was not like the other girls with perfect bodies and gorgeous faces; I was just an awkward slightly, chubby girl. However, seeing those girls that were supposed to be my teammates made be become insecure about myself. Instead of turning to someone that I trusted to help me, I ended up taking the harder, longer path and developed an eating disorder. The ideal cheerleader is short with a small waist and no flab, which was not me, I had some fat on my stomach that would not go away. In order to fit the social stereotype,

Today was my first time return to my old college turf. As I step onto the pitch and watch a game, the memories of games and practice started to flood back. I could see important moments of my action from my old glory days at mccc. It remind me that my background has created the player i am. I had learned when i step on to the field and stunned everyone by doing what none of them thought you could.

In junior high, I was bigger than most boys due to an early growth spurt. This naturally gave me an advantage over those I was competing with. I played the quarterback position and found myself having quite a bit of success at my level. My eighth grade year went exceptionally well so that my football coach at the time would discuss with me the idea of pursuing a football scholarship. I began to get really excited about the possibilities. I worked hard especially