Overcoming Obstacles To Success In High School

Throughout high school and undergraduate studies, I have tried to achieve academic excellence, improve my athletic abilities and become a better employee at a law firm. Although several experiences have shaped me as an individual, I believe that wrestling set the foundation for most of my improvements and accomplishments. I first started practicing wrestling when I was six years old and competing when I was nine. Although I was training four times a week, I failed to win anything for several years. I became less confident in my abilities, but I did not give up on the sport. I wanted to prove to myself that I can compete for medals with other athletes. Poor performances motivated me to work harder in practices, spectate older wrestlers and exercise

“You are not good enough.” Those are five words; no child or adult ever wants to hear or tell themselves. On the other hand, life will always be filled with occasions like these where we believe life plainly just sucks; where people, including ourselves, will believe we are so worthless, insignificant, and dim-witted that we are incapable of achieving something grand. In fact, no matter how much we deny it, these are the experiences that will always stick with us and affect us in one way, big or small. Yet, the thing many of us fail to discover is that the best opportunities come from these moments where proving we are capable of something is most vital. Thus, I have gone through many obstacles in elementary school that I am proud of because it has carved the successful and fortunate person I am today in school and life.

I started wrestling in sixth grade. Even though I didn’t win one of my first seven matches, I developed into a successful wrestler. In high school I won tournaments and beat high-quality wrestlers. During my junior year I was determined to become a great wrestler. I worked harder than ever and didn’t let anyone stop me. That year I lost the Illinois state wrestling tournament championship match by one point. Over the next six months between my junior and senior season I was runner up at AAU national tournament and wrestled at Disney Land in Florida at the Disney Duals with over 50 other teams and only lost 1 of 8 matches. These are a few of my achievements in high school. Now that I am in college there are many

If you aren’t humble in wrestling then you will get cocky and mess up during a match, because you will think that you are better than everyone else in your weight class. This lesson taught me to not be a sore loser or a sore winner, but to be grateful to have the opportunity to go out and do what I love; this will help because later in life if I don’t get a job, I won't go home and cry myself to sleep, I will get back up and start again and again.

Throughout my high school career I have had many ups and many downs.  High School by far has been the biggest challenge I’ve ever had to overcome.  Freshman year and sophomore year were my easiest years academic wise but my junior and senior years have been very challenging.  But while facing these challenges I have learned many things that may be helpful for those future seniors who are trying to get through high school.

Now i knew the kid my brother had gotten hurt by was still on the team and this year he was a senior captain. He was 152 and i was a 160 pounder. I couldn't wait to see our captain go against him because i knew it would be a great match. We were losing throughout our lighter weights and i was coming up at 160. I was pretty confident i was going to have an easy match but when their 152 pounder didn't go out for that weight i got a little nervous because i knew i would face him. I went out against him and the whole first period there was no score. He chose bottom the next period and immediately got a reversal on me and it was 2-0 close to the end of the second i was able to get a reversal but got up and got one right away. Going into the third he was up by 1. The third period started and 20 seconds into it i got a reversal and was up 4-3. Riding someone out for over a minute is a tough task and with 30 seconds left he got a reversal and a point for me locking hands. The score was now 6-4 and i had short time to tie it up. We started back in the middle and i went to stand up as fast i could, he dropped me back down to the mat but i caught an ankle and came up on top of him

My time on the mat was not always that of heart break. Going through elementary I never had a losing season, let alone a season where I lost more than five matches. In fifth and sixth grade I took place in NYWA and Gopher State. Gopher State is a tournament for the top wrestlers in Minnesota and all the states surrounding it. That was some of the hardest wrestling I have ever encountered. I placed in the top six at NYWA and not placing at Gopher state unfortunately. The summer before my junior year I went to multiple wrestling camps costing thousands of dollars and lasting weeks in time. And when it came time to vote for captains I just knew I was going to get it. The night before the coach told us who was going to be awarded captain

Much of my life has been influenced by the sport of wresting. My father is the head wrestling coach of the high school I attend; my whole life I have watched the sport, and spent time with his past teams. In the fifth grade I told my father that I no longer wanted to continue wrestling; we made a deal that when I reached high school I would join the team and if I still felt that wrestling was not a sport I wanted to pursue, I could quit again and end my career. When I entered high school, my brother had already been attending the same school and wrestling for my dad on the school team, so adapting to high school and high school sports was more simple for me than other students. The winter of my freshman year I was, as I had promised my father, out for the wrestling team.

Ever wonder how I did at my league tournament for wrestling? If you don't then you should. First, I walked on the mat for my first match. The first match was probably the hardest match of the day. I had to wrestle a kid named karson Brandt, he was from holton. I beat him 9-1 in a three period battle.

Admittedly I’m not the best wrestler, but my hard work ethic and determination is what makes me exceptional. At the 2015 regionals I lost my first match of the tournament which really brought my spirits down quite a lot. Going into my second match I knew if I lost my season would be done, and sectionals would be out of question for me. I ran out onto the mat, my heart is pounding through my chest. I didn’t want to let my parents and coaches down again. The match started and instinctively I grabbed my opponent’s leg and pinned him in 23 seconds. Winning this match put me into the finals for third place. When I ran onto the match for the finals match my heart dropped when I saw the guy who beat me come out to wrestle me. This meant I had to wrestle the guy that beat me to get into sectionals. The match started and he took me down, so I

After the conditioning drills, we learned a few moves, then paired up and practiced them. “You’ll be fine,” coach said “you just have to be aggressive.” I nodded, but inside I secretly prayed that I wouldn’t get stuck with a rabid beast of a wrestler. Apparently the wrestling gods weren’t listening.

The first time competing against him was in the finals of the team regional qualifiers for the state tournament, and I had lost in three minutes and thirty seconds. The second time I faced him was for the team state invitational championship. When the match began I could feel the pressure and had one of the worst wrestling matches ever. After I lost that match in forty seconds, I knew I had let my teammates and coaches down. When this humiliating defeat was over, I told myself that I would not let my teammates or coaches down ever again and that I would reach my full potential as a wrestler. The week leading up to the third match I communicated with my coaches about what

Coaching wrestling has been, and continues to be, one of the most meaningful and heartfelt experiences of my life. Wrestling has helped define my personal character, teaching me discipline, and enabling optimal performance under pressure and stress. I am grateful for the opportunity to pass this on to other student-athletes. The impact I have on their lives, as well as the one they have on mine, transcends the competition of sport. Simultaneously, I progress as a leader and role model, while they develop character and work ethic as young adults. I have been there for these athletes since the beginning of their high school career. Witnessing and being a part of their evolution has been an amazing experience. Whether it’s the smile on their face

We all have different kinds of the first day of school experiences, but for every student, I feel that stepping into the first day of school as a freshman would mark as the most memorable day in all high school years. Before the first day of school, I quickly thought that my freshman year would turn into the toughest and saddest year in my experience. My best friend would not attend the same high school with me, which already gives me many conclusions of how sad and hard of a school year it would result. However, maybe things will turn out differently than we think if we just change something about our way of living it.

Throughout college, there will always be obstacles that a student will face. Though some students make it through the semester without much trouble, I am not one of those students. It’s not always easy to get through the semester smoothly when you constantly have responsibilities to take care of. I get extremely stressed knowing that I have a big paper due or a math quiz that I need to do well on. If I have various assignments due at the same time, I usually tend to get overwhelmed. I deal with different obstacles on a day to day basis that can impede my success as a college student. Obstacles to my success this semester are poor time management, procrastination, and technological distractions.