Personal Narrative: A Career As An Athlete

When David Charles Johnson was a child, he wanted to become a professional football player. He always wanted to become a quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. As his parents raised him in Madison, Wisconsin, they encouraged him to try new things and would push him to do his best. David had a lean build with dark-brown hair and blue eyes. He participated in multiple sports, but he enjoyed baseball and football the most. In both sports, he enjoyed the throwing aspects of each game. He enjoyed pitching in baseball and being a quarterback in football. When high school arrived and David was a sophomore, he decided that he only wanted to play baseball and football. He and his parents decided it would be better for him to focus on his academics

Shifting in my heavy metal cleats, I can feel countless sets of eyes trained on me, observing my every move from their hard stadium seats. Normally when I’m on the mound, I have ice in my veins; the stares of the crowd bounce right off. However, this wasn’t a normal day. Instead of standing on the rubber to fire fastballs at opposing batters, I was there to honor two very special ladies and to raise funds and awareness for a cause that hits very close to home, Multiple Sclerosis. During this part of the ceremony, a fellow teammate and I were supposed to present our mothers, who are fighting the disease, with a gift from the team. Unfortunately, this did not occur as smoothly as one would hope. With slick palms, I calmly approached her with

What is the only thing harder than disciplining a dozen ten year olds? Disciplining them on ice! All throughout my life I’ve played sports, and no matter what sport it was, there was always one person who seemed to have it out for me…the referee. The referee is one of the most hated people in the world of sports, but is also one of the most crucial. I grew up with the mindset that the referee was the enemy. Whenever they made a call against me or my team, they were always wrong, no matter how obvious the penalty was. But one day, my whole perspective on referees changed---the day I became a referee.

Instead of feeling pressure to conform as a student at the University of Georgia, I have found that being in college has made me value the importance of a higher education more so than I ever had before. During high school, my primary goal was to play well enough to receive a football scholarship. At that time, my focus was not on academics. However, since I've arrived at the University of Georgia, my entire concept of the value of a college degree has slowly changed. Rather than seeing just football in my future, I can now picture myself as a football player with a college degree. Consequently, instead of having a negative impact on my personal growth, college has helped me broaden as a person.

My plans when I get older where like every other child's. I want to be in the NFL. To get where I am you have to start at a young age. I showed up at practice everyday and on time. I also studied the play sheets and went through all my routes. I studied day and night to be where I am. It wasn't easy. There was no time to play games get in trouble do drugs or hang out with friend on an everyday bases. You have to tighten up be a man. It's not like I woke up one day and I was starting running back I had to do what's right stay in school not miss a day because that one day could have been the most important day ever and I wouldn't have even known. You know why?? Because I was and didn't show up to school. Don't be that person I used to be.

In the late spring semester of my senior year in high school. I decided to take a risk with my future. All throughout high school I, identified as a football player. From a freshman I was placed on varsity and throughout my career I contributed heavily in games. Glaring into my history of sports I naturally believed college football was the route for me. During my final season as a high school student. I a major family set back. Lucky for me one of my teammates could not bare to see me leave during the middle of the season. He offered that I stay with him for the finish of the football season. I accepted his offer with much embarrassment and shame. For the first time the spotlight of being needy that I had been dodging all of my life finally caught up to me.

Growing up an athlete I had always been in above average shape. I was a healthy weight with toned muscles but, like most teenagers, I was eating garbage. I loved cheeseburgers and ice-cream and everything in between. For years I was telling myself this diet was ok due to the fact that I worked out. It wasn't until my sophomore year when I stated wondering how great I could be if I ate correctly. I decided to get a food tracker app and count calories. I was going to stick to a strict eating plan making sure I was only eating 1200 calories a day and eliminating snacking all together.

There was a time in my life when participating in every sports was a requirement. From volleyball to golf I was determined to become MVP of all of them. I was dumb to think I would succeed in volleyball, golf, or even basketball because I was cursed with clumsiness. It only look one twisted ankle in warming up for volley ball and one hit in the head by a basketball to realize that sports with the word “ball” in them just weren’t for me. At the time, my 13 year old self believed my athletic career was over, until one childish punishment exposed me to my passion; running. After several punishments for climbing on top of the lockers I knew that running would become my best friend. Running was never my first choice, but it became something I grew

I grew up in a family of six people was for brothers. Their names are Joe, Daniel, Patrick and me. Growing up we lived on the north side of Indianapolis near fishers area but I lived in Lawrence Township. My family is a sports family my dad play professional basketball in Europe. He attended school at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. Growing up my Dad taught me how to play basketball but later on in life I chose to go on the path to play football. My dad was the head coach at Cathedral high school in Indianapolis. He was the only coach to win a state championship for basketball at my high school.

“Try not to get lost in comparing yourself to others. Discover your gifts and let them shine,” said Jennie Finch. I’ve had the great opportunity of discovering my God-given talents through sports. I have played volleyball, softball, and basketball and have truly been impacted by helping my teammates. I would like to use what I have learned in my career field of becoming a veterinarian.

I was in Canada for a hockey tournament and it was the semi finals. I was going for a breakaway and then boom, there were two hits his sharp graphite stick piercing my pack and my fist curling into a ball and smacking against the ice. I needed one more goal to win this game and i was so close. I broke my wrist at that moment and I needed to play so I didn’t tell anyone about my wrist then. I pushed through the pain and persevered. The score was 3 - 3 and there were 5 minutes left. Jonathan and I were in the zone passing it back and forth in the zone trying to get a clean shot. Im at the top of the zone I skate in signaling at jonathan to do the move that we practiced, my hand pulsing with pain, I skate in on the goalie with jon close behind

It is my heartfelt desire to attend the US Naval Academy. I want to pursue a career in Engineering and I know that the Academy has an excellent program. I also would like to play basketball for the Academy. I have been a part of the varsity basketball team since the end of my freshman year and played AAU basketball for the past 6 years. I think that I have a lot to contribute and I would love to serve my country.

On the second day in San Francisco we were headed to professional baseball game. The Oakland A’s verse the Minnesota twins. The drive to the stadium had taken a goo solid hour and my family’s stomachs started to grumble. When we had finally arrived to the stadium and my dad thought it would be cheaper to eat in a place outside the stadium. We drove around for a familiar place to grab a snack. My sister spotted a McDonalds and we all agreed that is a good place to stop. We got closer and my mom said, “Have you ever been scared to walk into McDonalds?”

After the breaking point, after facing fear, failure follows. This failure implicated the true nature of me, and what I would do for success. "Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat." The brute will and determination that rises from the ashes of failure contributed to the strength and development of me.

I started playing soccer when I was five years old. My position was goalie for the majority of my soccer career. As a goalie, you had to dive to get the ball when it was being shot in the right or left corner. I always looked forward to someone shooting there; I enjoyed having to dive for the ball. I loved soccer but it put a strain on my body being out in the heat for sometime up to seven hours a day when we were playing in tournaments. With the heat taking a toll on my body, I began to look into other sports.