Personal Narrative: How Golf Changed My Life

The famous Scottish soccer player Bill Shankly once said, "Soccer is a matter of life and death, except more important."

I was born in Independence, MO on November 14, 1999. I was born into a sports family. My great grandpa and grandpa started teaching me baseball as soon as I could hold one. My great grandma and grandpa babysat me while my Mom was at work. He would sit on the floor and roll the ball to me. When it got warmer, we would go outside and play on his deck. I have loved baseball ever since. Sports have always been my passion. I play baseball and basketball. I started playing basketball my freshman year of high school and started playing baseball as soon as I was ready. There was never a time in my life where I wanted to stop playing sports, never once. I have never had a coach that has made me want to quit playing. If I had a coach that hated me, I paid attention to myself and didn’t let him get to my head about playing the game. I am going to try so hard to go as far as possible with baseball. I want to play baseball for the rest of my life. It’s what I’ve wanted to do since I was in middle school. I’ve known what I wanted to do with my life for the longest time. Sports are “my everything” and

Growing up in a house with all boys in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, I was taught to be tough and injuries were very common but easily shaken off. When it came to sports, I would put all my time and effort into one thing: soccer. Soccer was always a true passion of mine; as a matter of fact, it was more of a lifestyle than just a sport. I would spend weekends traveling around my local area playing the game I loved with people I enjoyed being with. My teammates became like my second family after countless seasons and we did almost everything together off the soccer field. The idea of putting on my jersey and lacing up my cleats was a moment I would not trade for the world and something I would never take for granted.

I had to be a main part in the biggest stage of the game was very challenging, and hard to overcome, especially caddying for one of the greatest caddy of all time. I was shocked, I usually do not face much stress in my life, but this moment gave me a rush of fear that cannot be explained. I am not a nervous person, I could handle most pressure given to me. On the other hand when I was but in a situation working with pro golfers i felt edgy to the subject.

There comes a time when you have to grow up or are forced to. You learn from past experiences and base your recent scenarios from it. Since the age of five, soccer has been part of my life. From having practice twice a week, to having practice every day of the week not including games. I felt like soccer was my pathway to success. I felt like I could do big things from it and I had all the confidence in the world but never would show it when others asked me if I was good. I’m the shy quiet girl that shows you what I’m capable of without saying a single word.

The passion I have for baseball would not exist if I didn’t have Tom and Melissa as my little league coaches. They coached me for only one year of my life, and that one year changed everything about me. I wouldn’t be the same at baseball and I wouldn’t be the same kid if it wasn’t for Melissa and Tom. They had certainly changed my life forever.

When I first came to Lake Highland in seventh grade my parents wanted me to be on a team to get to know people and the only sport I knew was golf. I came to the tryouts with no experience of tournaments, hammy down clubs from my sister, and not appropriate golf attire. I tried very hard for the team, but I did I didn't have the skills to make it on. It was very devastating for me because I have never been turned down before, but I knew that I had to change. After this failure I decided that I should try harder in golf. I never did take the sport seriously and barely practiced, but after being turned down I decided to step up my game. I started to practice harder and more often by my own choice. I also started to play in tournaments, which I

Not only in golf, but also in life. I began to make myself exercise and loose weight. I had more confidence at school even if being a champion golfer wasn’t the coolest thing I could have told people. By my ninth grade year I had lost 25lbs. This made me feel better and be more athletic. I started at football, basketball, and I was one of the two best golfers on a very respected high school golf team. Things were much better at school, but it was taking away from the time I use to spend practicing golf. I had a terrible freshman year as far as golf goes. I was playing terribly and I had no clue as to why. The whole time it seems as if I was always trying to fix my faults quickly, and not really put in the work that golf demands. I was spending the majority of my time doing teen stuff: learning to drive, going to the movies, parties, and keeping up with my girlfriend.

Every kids dream is become a Professional Baseball Player. I still remember when I first started baseball, I was only 4 years old so young and small. Baseball has shown me how to use my head by focusing on everything. Growing up with baseball has changed my life dramatically, It taught me to become a smarter individual and a better athlete. Baseball has never let me down.

Ever since I was a kid baseball has been a big part of my life. Whether I’m watching it with my dad on tv, or I’m suiting up to play under the lights on a friday night. Nerves had always played a huge part when it came to just an hour before game time. My whole body would tense up and I would feel anxious. This, of course, is a serious problem for any athlete who wants to compete at the best of their abilities. My biggest issue was always playing in the “big game”, or any game that would put an excessive amount of pressure on me. Which, when it came to me, was basically every game I played in.

In life you have to experience difficulties before you will ever experience success. I have always loved baseball. I started playing as a kid and continued into my high school years. During this time, I experienced frustration and eventually happiness came. Throughout this story I wasn’t focused on one moment, but all of the moments leading up to the signing for my college. The main experiences took place in many places, Chicago, Harrisburg, and West Frankfort. Playing baseball is a family event for me. My family supports me and is always there to cheer me on. These moments are so important to me is because I spent my entire life working to be signed by a college.

Everybody has memories they will never forget. The first of mine is playing baseball when I was six years old. My dad had always played sports and I wanted to follow in his footsteps. Baseball was my dream at a young age and it all started with the Tigers. I’ll always remember stepping onto the field for the first time and feeling the excitement rush through me. I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to be the team’s starting catcher. I liked the feeling of being in command behind the plate and felt like I had some sort of control over the game. I don’t remember a whole lot about the first game, but I do remember my first hit. I can tell you that I’ve never felt so excited in my life as I connected with the ball and began running to first base. I knew that made my dad extremely happy.

It was a Monday morning on June 13, 2016 and I was not ready for what was to come of today. I was practicing for my tournaments all summer long and this day was the day for me to show that my work has paid off. Even though It was a qualifier into a high skilled tournament I need my game this summer to be one of my best years so I can send my resumes to coaches around the country. So now the round Is about to start and I was nervous. Playing against kids much older and much stronger than you is intimidating, but i knew that was not supposed to change what was going to happen today. This golf course is a tricky one with lots of trees and hills but that should change my mindset of trying to win this qualifier. And we were off, I striped my drive

“You can stop, but know that quitting does not mean you should to give up,” she replied

Many people take up Golf thinking that it is easy, after all, how hard can it be to hit a little white ball with a stick? This thinking evaporates the first time they step onto a driving range and attempt to hit that little white ball. Golf is not easy by any stretch of the imagination. My experience with golf began in May of 2005 when friends came to stay with us; my wife informed me that I would have to take Roy, her friend’s husband Golfing. I had not been to a driving range (since I was in my teens) and I had never played golf on a course before. It was quite an experience; the weather was cold, rainy and nasty the three times we played while they where here, the game hooked me badly, even with the bad shots and the nasty weather.