Personal Narrative-Joining The GCA Volleyball Team

Every time school starts I am always looking forward to soccer season because that’s what I love doing the most and what i focus on. When soccer tryouts come up I am always ready also I am always prepared to give it my all to go out there and impress the coaches and let them know how much it means to me to join the team and how bad I want to play. There is two days of soccer tryouts and I attend both days because is very important for me to make the soccer team. I went to day one of soccer tryouts and I was trying my best to get attention from the coaches that were watching but then I felt like I didn’t give it my all, I felt disappointed because I know I could do better, at this point I was worried and stressed out but I never planned on giving up. I told myself that I was going to do better the next day.

While preparing for tryouts, I was expected to condition for two hours every day, playing and exercising vigorously. Once tryouts came along, I was in my best shape physically, but mentally, I still feared I wasn't good enough. Luckily, I was wrong to doubt myself because I made the team. All three teams spent hours practicing together, which made me nervous because most of the girls were more experienced. Even though I made more mistakes than the varsity players, they always encouraged me. Because of this, I became a better player and person. As the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu stated, “If you want to lead the people, you must learn how to follow them.” By allowing me to make mistakes without making me feel like a complete failure, the varsity players set a good example of leadership. Since they were understanding and did not assume an attitude of superiority, I was inspired to be humble and compassionate toward others. Honestly, I am glad I persevered through the tough times because it has taught me the necessary lessons to be a great role model. I hope I can motivate girls to not only play volleyball but to also express the importance of transferring the life lessons learned from the game to their everyday

I had spent most of my childhood happy, without much pain or adversity; as a result, the moment I learned I did not make the Junior Varsity volleyball team my freshman year, I was especially devastated. When I showed up on our first day of tryouts I was excited. I looked forward to playing volleyball all summer with my friends. I worked hard, and I felt really confident at the end of the two weeks; certain that I had made the Junior Varsity team. The coaches took me to a secluded room and sat me down to explain which team I had made. I was almost already thanking them, not realizing that they were telling me, "We think that your skills at the moment would shine best on JV2; work on your technique and practice being a leader.”

I started the first few weeks wanting to impress the head coach to prove to him I deserved a spot within the starting nine on the varsity level. I practiced hard, never goofed off, and went to the cages with my dad on the weekends. I wanted to make the varsity level to show my family and myself that I could do it and that I was good enough to compete at the varsity high school softball level. When I was younger, I made the team I wanted, I never considered failing to be part of me. The big week came, the teams were posted all seven freshmen had made a team but yet to find which side of the paper their name

At the start of high school my life began to take a turn. Up to that point my life had been predictable. I had the same friends, played the same sport, and was still an introverted person. My life was bland. Baseball is what I grew up playing throughout my childhood. It was that sport I looked forward to practicing, playing, and enjoying. As I started to get older, the people and coaches I played with changed. I began to play less, and wasn’t improving every week like I had hoped. I even tried out for the school team, but I was cut. For these reasons, my dedication to this sport was deteriorated. Trying out for the school team wasn’t what I wanted to do, but it’s what I presumed everyone expected of me. Once I ran passed this realization, I stopped playing baseball. This is not how I envisioned the future.

I grew up as an older sibiling who really had no one to express myself with. There are kids who live in secluded areas or just don't have the social skills to find other friends. Organized activites changed my perspective as a young child on how to actually have fun with my other peers. I personally liked playing basketball and was quite decent at the sport, I quickly developed friends who enjoyed the sport as much as I did. After awhile I started hanging out with a variety of different kids who were mutual friends between my friends and I.

I was doing everything I could to make Rock Ridge’s volleyball team. I was working out almost every day, I went to every volleyball open gym, and I went to many clinics and camps. Making this team was very important to me, and I didn’t know what I would do if I didn’t. I’ve been working very hard to get a spot on the team. However, nothing could mentally prepare me for the three-day long try-out process.

I remember my dad walking into the room with a disappointed, depressed, miserable, expression on his face when he handed me the email printed on a piece of paper. That is the moment when my heart sank because I thought that I did not make the team based on my dad’s expressions. He then handed me the piece of paper and I started to read it out loud, I was very nervous reading it because the email made it sound like I did not make the team. Although I was very disappointed I continue to read the email the email ended up saying how much my coach was appreciative honored and satisfied asked me to take part in the Montco alliance for the 2016 2017 season. I was exhilarated once I read those words, my heart was lightened to know all my hard work over the winter had paid off. Both my parents congratulating me for my extraordinary work and making the Montco Alliance team. I was certainly proud of myself for achieving my main goal that took countless hours of practice and dedication to the sport of soccer. This event had changed my life immensely by it opening new opportunities for me to succeed. This team played and plays in show case college

As a member of the Varsity tennis team, I am no stranger to facing what seem to be impossible odds. Being a singles player, during a match it is all on me to figure out what is going wrong and make the adjustments to fix it. Halfway through a match, I found myself down one set to none against the seventh ranked team in the state. The break in between sets is time to reflect on the same thus far, and to think about what you are doing right and what you aren’t doing so well. At this point in the game, I was down on myself and I couldn’t get anything in my arsenal of shots going. Instead of continuing to try to hit shots that I hadn’t hit all game, I decided to go back to the basics and try to gain some confidence in my shots. My main goal was

Our school was never very good at sports and only about five girls would be cut. I was jittery the day that the varsity roster was to be posted; I wanted nothing more than to be part of the team. After classes ended, I walked to the athletic board, where the varsity roster would be posted. I anxiously scanned the list for my name. I scanned it again. As my eyes ran over the page a third time, my heart began to sink. I hadn’t made the team. I was one of five girls who were cut from the varsity team. In a daze, I went to practice. Instead of focusing like I usually did, I went through the motions. The five of us who made up the junior varsity team had a separate practice with the assistant coach. After the sting of failure finally faded, I began to work harder than before. I showed up early to practice and stayed late every day. Every weekend I spent at least two hours on the field practicing. I was determined to make the coaches regret putting me on the “JV” team. As the season ended, I didn’t stop working to become better. Any day that was not too cold, I could be found on the field. When spring came, I joined the soccer team, hoping to improve on my endurance and speed. Over the summer, I spent at least two hours every day running and practicing. When the field hockey season rolled back around, I was ready to show off my skills and make the varsity

The combined noises of my alarm clock and my mother calling me, along with the smell of coffee, forced me awake. I sat in bed for a minute, rubbing my eyes and working up the nerve to step out from under my warm blankets, then swung my feet onto the floor and headed groggily into the kitchen.

I have been in the volleyball team for my school all four years and in three of them I was in the varsity team. Volleyball has been a part of my life since I was eight years old, which is why it is so important for me. In addition to sports, I have performed a variety of community service for my school. I participated in the Partners of Education Program (PEP), a program in which students assist teachers with adults whose first language isn’t English. Although it was one of my first experiences when it come to helping the community, it is the one I appreciate the most. This is due to the fact that I was born in Puerto Rico, where I grew up speaking Spanish and helping others with something that relates to me was inspiring. Furthermore, in regards to my education, I have always tried to challenge myself, which is why I receive honor courses along with International Baccularete

Playing on the varsity volleyball team is an adrenaline rush like no other. To be able to play the sport you love with teammates that are like family, in front of a crowd of actual family members is the ultimate feeling. Playing is even better when you, a small town nobody, beat a ranked team in the first set. We had just beaten Humboldt 25-17 and I was on top of the world. We were playing like our lives depended on it and I couldn’t be more proud of the girls.

Here comes high school. My friends and I from middle school all went to the same high school, and played volleyball once again. The only difference between us was when I was on the B team they were on the A-team, and when I was sitting on the bench they were playing. We got to high school and things didn’t change, they were on JV as a freshman, and little old me was still on the freshman team. I decided that for the next year they weren’t going to be better than I am. I worked so hard the summer going to my 10th grade year.

You could see them mumble, “Do we have to pick them”. We finally were out on teams and ready to finish practice. My team put me in a position that they never had to pass me the ball and I wasn’t in the way. So, I just went along with the practice not knowing at the time how this would be something shown throughout the whole season. As the practice came to an end we huddled together, and talked about the next practice and our first game on Saturday. As we left you could hear the boys talking. Saying things like, “Why are they on our team?”, and “They are going to make us lose”. We just kept going to our cars and went home.