Personal Narrative: Why I Am Done On A Team

A team isn't just a group of people united in a common goal as Vince Lombardi stated. Just like a family, a team learns and grows together. Winning or losing isn't as important as growing and improving. My father always says that in tennis you can learn more from your losses than your victories. This is true for life too. When your in a family, you learn so much from each other's failures. You learn what to do and what not to do. You also learn how to be there for each other when times get tough. This unites you as a family and brings you closer together. The same thing happens on a team. When I was younger, I swam for the Marlins Swim team. We practiced twice a day in the summer, and it was exhausting. Our coaches pushed us hard to get us ready for the Conference Meet against our biggest rivals, the Normal Parks and Rec Sharks and the team from Rob Knight. We all wanted to win so badly that we were willing to give up most of our summer break to do laps in the pool at 6:00am. One of the boys on our team had special needs, but he practiced hard just like anybody else. When it came time for the Conference Meet, our head coach called a meeting and told us that he was putting this boy in several of the relays because the boy going to have surgery at the end of summer and wouldn't be able to swim again for a long time. I think our coach expected us to to argue or be

From day one on the Tonawanda Titans I have felt the true meaning of team. Having joined freshman year, the transition was made easy thanks to this family unit that supports each other every stroke of the way. As a result of this great environment I thrived on going to practice to better myself, which ultimately enabled myself to share my passion for this sport with my fellow teammates both young and old.

We lean on each other just as much as we strive individually. Together we are stronger and bring out the best in each other. We win together and lose together. We have girls that are our Moms, they keep us under control. Then we have the loud ones, they are the girls that talk when they should and even when they shouldn't. We have the quiet ones who keep to themselves and hardly engage with others. We have the academically talented and the students who can't hand in assignments on time. The one thing we all have in common is our drive and determination towards this team. The second we step over that white line all our lives change. We don't care about anything besides each other in that moment. All of our differences vanish and the one thing that brought us together in the first place takes over. We come

From their friendships came trust. They became open to the constructive criticism of each other. “As they began to see traces of tension and nervousness in one another, they began instinctively to draw closer together. They took to huddling on the float before and after workouts, talking about what, precisely, they could do to make each other row better than the one before, looking one another in the eye, speaking earnestly” (Brown 326) As a team, they came to an understanding that their strength as a group was their endurance. Each teammate never gave up because he did not want to let his teammates down. Working together in class and in sports at Belmont Hill builds friendship and trust. From my first day in school, I was welcomed by my classmates and I felt like I became part of something. I expect that eventually I will develop friendships and bonds of trust with my classmates. My classmates represent a diverse collection of talents and abilities. I feel that I can learn something from each one of them, and hopefully they can learn something from

Prior to coming to Hargrave, had few opportunities At Hargrave, however, I never felt any real team spirit I found tightly knit team bonds. Teams are seen as brothers and the chemistry between one another is impossible to achieve at any other school. We acknowledge the hardships we struggle against day after day and it strengthens our bond and chemistry as a team. When faced against even more advanced teams, because of our tightly knit bond, we can beat highly skilled opponents. This chemistry and bond between one another truly improved my athletic ability and my capability as an

Being part of multiple travel softball teams as well as high school teams have taught me about the importance team unity in achieving team goals. I have learned that selflessness, a positive attitude even when faced with adversity, and a great work ethic will promote a successful team. Softball does consume a great portion of my time, but I am extremely organized and have sustained a 4.0 G.P.A. During this school year alone, I have participated in six softball tournaments, four of which were out of state. My family has been extremely supportive throughout my entire recruitment process and I would not be as successful as a person or athlete without them. Because of my year-round dedication to practice, lifting, and craft, I have been recruited to University of Illinois at Springfield, a division II School to play

The game felt like a million hours left in the last quarter of the game for b-team. We waited on the sidelines for b-team’s game to explode as, we watched. The a-team started to drink water and stretch a little for the game.

These compounding factors only add to the additional building blocks of a successful team bonding, further research even shows that College athletics is an important social institution. Hodgson (2006, p. 2) defines institutions as “systems of established and prevalent social rules that structure social interactions.”5 Without the first stepping-stone being successful social interaction, there will be no such thing as team bonding. A prime example of a University setting its “stepping stones” correctly is Since its inception in the late nineteenth century, Southwestern State University has established six core values in an attempt to display such characteristics throughout all branches of the institution: Excellence, Integrity, Leadership, Loyalty, Respect, and Selfless Service. As a university devoted to its stated core values, the established Southwestern State brand promise is unequivocal in its purpose: ‘‘to model our core values in all that we do’’ (Southwestern State University, 2011a). Which in fact places a responsibility upon a athlete who has to model and represent the University in a certain way as shown above. Furthermore, if an athlete does not withheld these stepping-stones, there actions are noticeable by first there coaches and teammates resulting in a negative social interaction. Which ultimately leads to a non-team bonding aspect due to one player, which ultimately may result in

Whenever the end of sophomore year came around, we both became more boy crazy. I met a boy named Blake who I have now been with for three years, and she started hanging around a boy named Colton who she still visits in college. Although we both adore and love these boys, we have had many ups and downs with them. She has always been "Someone I can call up late at night and talk about boys and drama." Whenever I was a senior in high school, I decided to break up with my boyfriend of three years and go act wild again with people I thought were still my friends. While Maddy was out acting wild and crazy with Colton. Anytime either one of them would do something wrong, we would text or call each other within seconds, go get ice cream and drive

1. You have quit your job; or you were laid off - to put it nicely. For the first couple of days of being funemployed, you sit in your living room, turn on the television and think to yourself, “finally, I can finish this season of Game of Thrones.”

Heading into freshman year with the new cheer team that had been announced I had no idea what to expect. I was looking forward to new experiences, but I was also very nervous because our freshman team was so diverse in friendships. None of us were very close with each other, and most of us had never really talked. We never really had any drama or fights amongst our team, but we still didn’t have that great sister-like bond. Come JV year that is when all of us really clicked, we truly did respect everyone of our teammates and grew close with one another. Not all of us were best friends, but we knew how to come together, and how to avoid drama. JV was the start of our great relationships, and they have been growing ever since. Being a part of PHS Cheer heading into high school was truly a blessing, and made the

I am an inventor with past great inventions working on my project however, I am having some trouble.

I worked as a buffer at a very nice restaurant, La Toque, and it made me miserable. I would come home in pain and crying because of how long and horrible my night was. I was still a minor at the time and I had just gotten my licence, so

Hello… If you are reading this than well, well I’m probably long gone by now. Know I never wanted it to come to this. If anything I owed you at the very least a proper goodbye and given you an explanation as to why I had to leave. But, I thought this would be best given that the reason I had to leave wouldn’t have left me with enough time do so anyhow. I wish I could tell you more, but I guess it’s just as they say, “It’s complicated”. You deserve more than an excuse and I want nothing more than to be able to tell you the truth… It doesn't seem like that’s gonna happen though, “huh…” I hope you’re not mad at me for leaving you like this. I never wanted to especially like this if there was any other way than I would have done things

1. One of the most successful teams that I’ve been a part of was my high school club basketball team. Some of the characteristics that made us successful included our hard work, dedication, and mutual respect for each other. We understood that each of us had the same goal and we respected and appreciated each of our teammates strengths. Along with this, we also understood each other’s weaknesses. This way, as a team, we were able to play to each of our strengths and make up for weaknesses within the team. The environment of my team not only empowered me to be the best basketball player that I could be, but it provided me with a safe space to be the person I am. There was no judgment or negativity because everyone cared about each other as a person, not just a basketball player. We accomplished a lot as a team. Not only were we one of the most winningest team in our programs history, but we did it without top rated D1 recruits. Yes, we had talented kids on our team, but we should not have been as successful as we were. It was because of our team chemistry and the mutual love that we accomplished so much. Lessons I took from this team was that being positive always beats negativity. Attitude is everything. Showing people that you care about their success not only empowers them to continue their good work, but it inspires others around you to act in the same manner.