Have You Ever Went Bowling

Bowling Alone", an article by Robert Putnam, responds to a major issue about the decline of social capitalization. It argues that at first, America had a very strong civil society "ever since the publication of Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America" (page 381) where "Americans of all ages, all stations of life, and all types of disposition are forever forming associations." (page 381-382, quoted by Tocqueville). However, as time moved on, it was clear that there was a decline in membership of these associations such as the decline of bowling leagues. "Between 1980 and 1993, the total number of bowlers in America increased by ten percent while league bowling decreased by forty percent." (page 387-388). This becomes an important issue as social capitalization is very important to a well balanced democracy.

Throughout the readings “Bowling Alone”, “Alone Together”, and “Still Bowling Alone”, the three authors all have their points to get across involving technologies in our societies. They’re all quite common, as in they all seem to want us to be weary of how close we get to technology, as it’s drifting us away from our friends and family, but also from our civic and social lives, as “Bowling Alone” speaks heavily about. Technology can be a positive aspect of life, but when you look at it from these authors’ perspectives, you can possibly see it as a negative.

Starting from 8th grade, I played on the school team, and at the midpoint of the season, I realized that I had to practice my hardest because we were going to have a tournament. I started to ask the coach to teach me different style of plays. He taught me so many things when I stayed after practice. I still remember, two or three of my teammates would stay with me at the end of practice and work as much as I did. After working hard in practice, I used the skills I learned and won the entire tournament.

At the beginning of seventh grade, I would always joke around that I would do wrestling, like with all the other guys. Later on that year when wrestling season was starting I decided to sign up. I didn’t know what being in wrestling was going to be like because it would be like nothing I’ve ever done before.

I began when I was 4, but did not start playing competitively until I was 10. As the years went on, I became a distinguished athlete. I started to travel across the United States for softball, and even had the opportunity to play on the number one team in northern California.

I have been able to participate in both volleyball and basketball when I was an underclassman. It was really important part of my life that really taught me how to work as a team. The ability to be a team play is something

Not knowing much about the sport other than you get to hit people made the first half of the season pretty difficult. My 7th grade year I only played defensive end and i got the hang of it pretty quick and the only thing I had to remember was to contain the outside. I learned a lot that year but not as much as I did my 8th grade year.

Throwing is the one of the few things you could say that I am successful at. I have been around the sport and great throwers all my life. The hardest thing is knowing I will never reach my goals like they did. I have been throwing since the seventh grade. For some reason my dad never had me throw before then and I kind of wished that he did. I wish that I had started throwing sooner so I could have been a better thrower from the start. I still remember my first track meet like it was yesterday. The night before my dad had told me that he wanted me to be the best and would not accept anything else. Well, being twelve at the time that was a lot of pressure. I was already stressed out because my very first track meet was the next day. It was not like volleyball and basketball when my first game or match had been done way back in elementary school.

It was not until the age of 10 where my career really started to kick in and I did not take baseball for granted. It was a sport that I always liked to play. I always played every summer in a youth baseball league. It was a recreational league, but it is where I made some of my best friends. This league made it feel like we had no responsibilities and the social environment was one that I will never forget because being able to talk to others that understand what you mean is nice to have. When first starting that league my dad started coaching me up until I was eleven. Then he started taking the game to heart. We were still too young to fully understand that and he made a few kids cry and so the league banned him from coaching. So, my next year my grandpa took my dad’s spot and coached the team. There was always one rivalry we had. It was a team with almost all the older and best players in the league. Every year they went undefeated, except one. It was the finals game and it was a double

As a child, I grew up playing softball and that 's it. My mom played softball, my cousins played softball. It’s just all I knew. When I reached the seventh grade at Gardner Dickinson (my elementary and middle school), my friends all played soccer and I reluctantly joined as well. Each year I had my ups and downs with soccer, but it grew to be a part of who I am and has taught me a lot of things. For example, to try new things, to work hard, to never give up, and to step up and be a leader.

Ever since I learned the ropes, I wanted to play because it has always been my dream to play softball. My mom told me I could try out for Lakeshore Playground that got anyone involved in any sport. There was no such thing as tryouts for this playground. During some of the games, I had my good days and my bad days at either hitting or catching. I loved being on that field. I felt that it was just only my teammates and me on the field waiting for our rivals to hit the ball. That season was a good one, and I will never forget it. This is what started my dreams from just playing on a playground field to being on an actual team. To everyone else it may be just a field with red dirt, but to me it is more than that. It is everything I could dream of because the game is about my teammates and me. I loved my passion, and will continue it later on in my

A good word to describe the first sound that came out of my French horn could be called a screech. When I first looked at the instrument I originally thought the bell faced upward in the air. You would never believe that only two years later I was able to sight-read pieces of music and preform them in a matter of an hour during a workshop at Disney world. The quick improvement that I made in my music ability showed my natural tenacity and persistence.

Later that day I went home, I was so mad at myself that I told my parents and sisters that I won't do it ever again and that it was just a waist of my time, but to my surprise the next day I found myself at the bowling alley still struggling. During the practice the JV 1 coach came up to me and told me the most important thing in bowling “don't look at the pins, look at the second arrow”. It seems like nothing helpful but in reality it is. It's a small thing but it makes the game perfect. Thinking back I was close to quitting bowling but with one help from the coach my life changed completely. After two weeks of practice came the first match I was really nervous because I thought that other girls will make fun of me because I didn't get past 100, but in reality none of us did because we were starters first year bowlers we had a lot of things to learn to become better. In the middle of the season was another time where I was considering quitting, being a freshman I was asked to play with the JV team which mean the there are girls who are more experienced and have bowl for a year or even more. I was so nervous about again the judging me that I did really bad that math but the coach didn't give up on me yet, he wanted me to play for the rest of the season with his section, and that was the place where I learned the

I gained more confidence with each practice as my talent slowly shines through. I practiced throwing, catching, running, and sliding. Over time, practice became second nature while simultaneously my accuracy started to improve. As I was practicing with my mom and sister outside at home I was doing better than I was at the ball field. I guess it was because I was just nervous at the ball field