Socially, I decided to isolate myself from everyone else as I had developed a bad impression of people. I became the shy kid who sat in the corner in class and didn’t speak with anyone. I didn’t have a sense of direction or any kind of plans and frankly, I wasn’t worried, although I should have been. I stopped caring for school and completely stopped studying and for a couple of months, I thought I would never make it out and graduate high school. Thinking back of this time still frightens me. Who knows how I would be today if I had stayed like this.
I chose to play another year of recreational soccer, making sure to come back the next year to prove a point that I can put in the work and give myself the best opportunity to make the top team. Everyday after school, I would head to the fields and practice every aspect of my game. I would arrive an hour early to every practice, and I would leave an hour after practice. Day in and day out, I worked diligently on my fitness. For a year, I stopped at nothing to give myself the best chance I could to reach my goal. Motivated after that dissapointing tryout, nothing could stop me from doing my best. Standing on a different field, one year later, tryouts began. I was determine to produce my best performance. Two hours later, every player stood single file. Coincidentally, I was the first person called up; the coach informed me that I made the top team. However, this team played for a different club than the one I tried out for last year. This team competed at a much higher level. Not only did I make the team, but I gained the knowledge and appreciation for hard work and dedication. People rarely receive everything they want; however, they can always put in their best effort to provide themselves the best opportunity at obtaining what they
When I started my soccer career during my freshman year, I began in the junior varsity team. I was not so familiar with sports until I started playing football and soccer. I once believed that I was not good enough to join the team, but after committing myself to conditioning and being determined to give my best to every practice, I proved myself wrong. Not only did I make it to the team, however I was also a starting player. For the following year, my sophomore year, I transferred into a different high school. There, I played in the Varsity team as a right defense for my sophomore and junior year. This year, 12th grade, I will be a captain for the soccer team. I was able to not only build strong friendships with my teammates, but also with
I’m a military child. Change was instilled in me since my birth in Spain. My childhood was spent briefly in Europe, the east coast of the U.S, and eventually the Midwest. This change of scenery, schools, friends, and just about everything else in my life led me to be the person I am today. Travelling was amusing and I enjoyed change of pace every couple of years, but it wasn’t easy. I learned early on that getting attached to people wasn’t a good idea and should be avoided in preparation for the next move. This led me to being an incredibly shy child who couldn’t open up to people. The world I come from is an adventurous but problematic one. When I concluded making friends would assist with each transition I found myself too terrified to attempt
For most of my life, I was skilled in organized sports, especially soccer, which I had played for many years. After a successful soccer season my freshman year, I thought that I would make the JV team for sure. At tryouts, I went through the motions of each drill. I breezed through the conditioning tests, doing the bare minimum for each test. I didn’t try as hard as others, as I felt that I was more skillful than most of my peers.
Fast forward to the next year, I showed up at tryouts. I was confident, but still nervous considering what happened the year before. As I jumped in the pool I was ready for whatever the coach threw at me. Not once did I get lapped. The coach posted the list, I anxiously looked over it and saw my name. Relieved and overjoyed, I had finally made it. Later that year I even won the coaches award at the banquet. Forget about making the team, I was now an
I wanted to play high school soccer because it offers a completely different experience than club soccer. The thing is, high school soccer and club soccer are two very different variations of soccer. In club soccer you are playing against teams within your same age group and in high school you could be playing against players three years older than you. In club soccer you practice 3 times a week, but in high school soccer it is everyday after school. I soon found out that soccer in high school is all about hardwork and dedication, the coaches love to see the kids who are working their butts off. I decided to try out anyways and the experience was not what I expected. During tryouts, everyone was in their own circles passing the ball around, keeping to themselves. Soccer was not the same. I thought soccer was about making new friends and bonding, but a lot of them kept to themselves. This was a new team experience for me and eventually everyone became friends, less timid and playing like a team that had been together for awhile. Although the rules for the team were very strict, it turned out to be one of my favorite high school experiences. The coaching was also very different but allowed me to learn something from each coach and put that into my soccer playing to become a better
Every student athlete dreams of playing the sport they love in their future, whether it is in college or even to go play as a professional. I have played other sports in my life, but soccer has always been my favorite sport. I decided to drop every other sport I was in to play soccer. It was a pretty hard decision because I really did like playing other sports, but I really wanted
I have always been told that I got blessed with my genes. Everything I do athletically just comes natural to me. I have had the opportunity to play multiple sports whom of which I have had success in. In all of the sports I’ve participated in I have loved soccer the most and track is just the most natural sport for me. I’ve played soccer for over half of my young life. Soccer just makes me happy when I play. I have also been blessed by being average at soccer too. I didn’t do well my 9th grade season so coming into being a Sophomore I wanted to change that. I worked hard in the off-season and I became a varsity Captain and I finished the season 3rd in the area for assist and was a 2nd team All-District player. I was proud of myself but i knew I didn’t give it everything I had.
One major part of the challenge for me was going to a new school and not knowing anyone. I wasn’t able to have any help by friends on how the school was like
It wasn’t an easy decision since being a multi-sport athlete, I was also a great boxer and football player. I had love for the sports that I took part in, the potential I had was like no other. I had the academic qualities and physical attributes to go a long way with all three sports but nothing beats time. I had to make this decision in order to establish what I was going focus on. I decided to focus on soccer because this sport takes my mind off everything, I feel like i'm in a different realm when I play, I don’t get that feeling for anything
When I reached our destination, the geographical differences were just a tiny part of my life’s hurdle. Unlike, my previous assumption of the evergreen state, this was the complete opposite. Tumbleweeds replaced evergreen bushes, rivers replaced lakes and quail replaced red cardinals. My physical surroundings were the easiest to adjust to. Nevertheless, a new school was probably the most difficult part of moving. I grew up in a school where I was the only one in my grade out of a school population of eight. So when I walked into my sixth grade classroom filled with at least twenty-six boisterous children, you could say I was a bit overwhelmed. The lifestyle in eastern Washington contrasted sharply with my comfort zone. People in this area were constantly with a filled schedule including, sports, music competitions and recitals, and school activities, unlike the life filled with daily visits to the lake. School was definitely harder than my previous school, constant homework and tests were a foreign language to me. All the friends I’ve had up till then, have known me ever since I learned how to read, so making new friends was a new thing for me, as well. From the start, making friends was arduous, I’m not a very outgoing person and small talk isn’t my forte. I would be introduced to some people, most of the time neither one of us had a
In the 6th grade, the sports at the school increased to softball, baseball, track, volleyball, basketball and soccer. This what the time when us as students had to decide what we wanted to play. I debated doing track because everyone else was doing it, but I was not good at running. Because of this I decided that I would stick with softball. When the season came around I was shocked when my whole softball team of 7 years had quit on me. They had all left to join track. This was hard for me because the sign up for all sports were over and there was not enough for a team. Being shy, and not outgoing around the kids I went to school with I didn't know what I was going to do. I decided one day and asked my mom if I could join a kid-sports team from another
Was there ever a time in your life where you felt like a stranger or an outsider? Well I have, it was when I first transferred to Nanakuli High and Intermediate School what made it feel more left out was that it was already deep into the school year my 8th grade 4th quarter. I felt left out and felt like I would just be jumping into somebody group and it felt weird who knew if they wanted to hang with me or not. But without it I wouldn’t be who I am today.
Moving schools all of the time made it hard for me to make friends and be social with my peers. After moving to Ohio I learned how to be myself, and I learned how to make friends who had the same interests. On the first day of school in fifth grade a pretty blonde girl sat behind me. I was curious as to who she was because I had never seen her before; I turned around and introduced myself. From that little interaction we became best friends and are still pretty good friends to this day. Living in a small town has taught me how to better interact with people and making new friends. I know that when I go off on my own to college that I will have no problem with this. Meeting new people and forming relationships will come naturally to me all because I have had the experience of living in a small town where you have a relationship with everybody you know.