Season Just four years ago, four years ago, four years ago I almost quit baseball for good. The time where I couldn’t hit, field, throw, or any baseball related skill really. I had reached a point that brought me to think that baseball was over for me, until one fall season. The coach makes a big impact on the game and the player. I never realized at the time but a coach can change a players whole game. Whether the skills or just the love for the game. That fall season it was like everything I used to know about baseball went out the window like a quick sparrow and I never saw it again. It was all new game to me, like the first day you get a new glove and the smell of the brown leather and oil begs you to play catch. I now actually started to enjoy what I was doing. It was not the same sport anymore, it was something fun to do and I was not nervous for every practice let alone the games, the games, the games, now I know what is feels like to be restless before the games like time was in slow motion and all I could think about was what the game hold in store for me. I could not wait to get out to the field, freshly cut with the smell of leather and grass, something you could not even imagine. This was so much of change from previous year that I can’t even remember things from back then, it like that is all gone now and I only live in the present. Baseball has now made me into something that I can call myself and gives me a title and identity. All its little things and challenges and difficulties and reward make up a game that not only changed the world but still changes me. Laughs A laugh is something, hopefully, you hear every day. Just a noise coming from a humans lungs can bring a smile to any face. Everyone in my fami... ... middle of paper ... ...ess work and stress than having to work for someone else every day of my life. That sounds a little like school to me with all the guidance but no independence. Having my own brand of sneakers would be a interesting job because then I could decide what I want to make and produce instead of letting some other company come out with whatever trash they want to. There's a few problems though. My age holds me back, my money holds me back, and my experience with working holds me back. So right now all I can do is imagine how cool it would be if I was the owner of a company like Nike and not have to buy shoes that other people make for me. As a person this reflects how I act because I want to be independent and not want to work for someone else but also I can be a little to controlling sometimes so I would have to learn how to not be in charge of everything all the time.
The first team I ever played for was Tobers Party Store. For some kids growing up, baseball was just another way to pass time during the summer, away from the grind of public school. For me it was everything. From the moment my eyes snapped open in the morning, until the time I slipped away to sleep, I had baseball on my mind. I loved to play baseball, watch baseball, and talk baseball. Nothing else mattered. Eating and sleeping were just "necessary evils" that took precious time away from my hobby. I anxiously awaited the day when I would be drafted into the professional ranks after a successful college career. Bubbling with excitement, I would explain my inevitable career path to anyone who would listen. Of course, the responses were less than empowering. "Do you know how good you have to be?", and the tried and true " Go to college and get a real job", were two of the more popular sentiments that the "opposition" hurled at me. Naturally, in my 10 year old mind, I knew they were delusional and I would prove them wrong.
When the notion of baseball comes to mind, a feeling of nostalgia and tradition come to me. Many of my feelings and memories originate from my childhood. I remember a beautiful summer day. My dad and I arrived at the baseball stadium to watch the game. We walked up the concrete walkway inside the stadium. The concrete walls and floors made my surroundings drab and grey. Finally, we made it to entrance into the stadium. I came out of the dark tunnels into the bright sunlight. The first thing to catch my eye was the vivid rush of color. Underneath the fluffy white clouds and their deep blue canvas, I could look down and see players in vibrant red and blue uniforms warming up for the game. The well-watered grass on the field was a brighter green than any other grass I had seen. The outfield seemed to be so perfect. It appeared that each blade had been cut by hand. The edge of the infield, where the dark, watered-down dirt met the intensely green grass was a precise and well-defined contrast. We sat down and I took in my surroundings. There were men walking up and down the stairs selling various concessions. They had peanuts, beer, soda, ice cream, popcorn, and many other tempting treats. The players soon finished their warm-ups and the crowd became frenzied with excitement. The game was about to start.
I have many things that I love in this life, one of those things is wrestling. I have been wrestling for seven years and I have developed quite the passion and love for it. Wrestling has always been an interesting sport for me. Growing up in Oregon I watched my uncles wrestle in high school. I watched both of them win their state tournament in their respective weight classes, this is one of my fondest memories of my childhood. One of them went on to wrestle division one, I thought this was the coolest thing in the world. I looked up to my uncles and wanted to be just like them. I did not always wrestle though. The process of pursing my dream as of becoming a wrestler started of with basketball, then went to a rocky start, then being on Worland High School wrestling team.
As a kid, I was born and raised to love the great game of baseball. Many young kids have had dreams to become professional athletes, and achieve prestigious awards/ titles. Like many kids I’ve always dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player. As a younger kid with my head in the clouds, I never really knew what it was like to put my actual blood, sweat, and tears into something I loved, until my worst season I had ever played. This whole story starts in the beginning of my ninth grade baseball season. It started out different from every other year because, of course I was a freshman. This was the first year I had ever practiced with the varsity squad, it was much more difficult, but I still figured I was going to do great. After weeks
Growing up, I have always had a passion for baseball. To me, it is much more than just a sport. There have been times when it has acted as an escape from many problems in my life, as I feel that when I am on the diamond, nothing can hurt me. I am aware that many people feel this way about the sport they love, but sadly their careers often come to an abrupt end due to injury. I have a personal connection to this experience. The summer before my fourth grade year I was attending a basketball camp at Davidson College, when in the final seconds of a scrimmage game, my ankle was kicked out from under me. I immediately fell to the ground in pain as my ankle rolled over on itself. Coaches aided me in limping off of the court and to the training room
In the summer of 1998 my family fled the newly created independent country of Croatia (Former-Yugoslavia) to the United States. My parents came here in hopes of finding a better life as the economy was still recovering from Croatia’s war of independence. We first settled in Amarillo, Texas for a few months. We traveled around the states for a year or so looking for other refugees. After some searching my parents decided to move to Connecticut as it offered the best incentives for refugees. Listening to stories about this time of my life has given me a chance to appreciate the help we received from various government programs that settled us, clothed us, fed us, and helped us become independent American citizens. Now I want to give back and the best way I know to do this is by teaching the future generations of Americans.
Now, I play baseball whenever in my spare time, which helps me reach my overall goal of playing the sport. It used to be for fun, but now I am trying to go farther than just having fun in the sport. I have had to do many things to get where I am, but I do not want to be finished yet, I want to keep going throughout my life and keep succeeding. “Baseball is a good thing”. Always was, always will be.”
Although baseball was something I adored, the pain it caused was not easy to ignore. Much like a middle school relationship, baseball was my “first love” and every few months we would break up and eventually get back together again; furthermore, much like growing up, I matured and my thought process was intricate and more complex. After my torn UCL, I knew I had to “break up” with baseball; especially if I ever wanted to be able to reach the Rice Krispies on the top shelf again. I needed to prevent myself from repeating my mistakes even though it was at the cost of my Favorite activity; however, once again there is always a silver lining.
Laughing is resorted to in times where we need to laugh. It’s an escape from reality, its comfort, its fear. Laughing subdues any emotion that is too high strung in our system. It lets it vapor out in a melancholy form that helps us cope with problems that no one else can really understand and help us with. In One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest it allowed emotional tension escape from the patients and made nurse Ratched lose her ward.
My mom always told me about the story of my birth. It was the cold, blizzardy night of January the 4th. She had been in labor for nearly 24 hours, and when I was finally born, she was happy to have a son. Up to this day, she jokes that I have been stubborn since before I was born. That was the first story of my life, and you can bet that there were many more to come.
One diamond, four plates, nine players, a sweaty uniform, cleats, a bat, and a ball are the only things I’ve dreamt of since my first baseball practice when I was three years old. I remember the way it felt to smack the ball off of the tee and have everyone in the stands cheer and scream for me as I ran for first base as fast as I could and never wanting to leave the field even after it had gotten dark outside and all the field lights had been shut off. Baseball has been all I’ve ever wanted to do with my life from the very beginning. I can’t imagine doing anything other than eating, sleeping, and breathing the game of baseball. So when people ask me, “What are your plans after high school?” all I’ve ever known myself to say back was, “I’m not sure but it 'll have something to do with baseball.” With this being said, I have decided to be a baseball coach so I can pass down the knowledge I have for the game I love so much to people younger than me that love it just the same as I have and still do.
There have been many theories over the years as to why we laugh. Freud suggested that during laughter, you discharge pent-up psychic energies. In a theory by V.S. Ramachandran, we laugh to alert others in the social group that an anomaly, whatever it is we are laughing at, is inconsequential. For example, if someone falls and is not hurt, we laugh to signal to others that the person is all right. The theories vary greatly, but there are so many attributes to the phenomenon o...
I grew up as a Southern Baptist. My family has always belonged to the same church and to this day my parents and my brother’s family still attend First Baptist Church in Forest City, North Carolina. One of the reasons Baptists are given this name is because they are not baptized as infants, but when they are old enough to understand the full concept of Jesus and the sacrifice He made for us. I accepted the Lord as my personal savior when I was thirteen and made a public profession of my faith by walking to the front of the church one Sunday morning. Many factors in the past have influenced my relationship with God and continue to do so daily.
Never forget to laugh. "If you can laugh at it, you can survive it" (Cosby). Life is difficult for everyone. It is how people deal with these strives and struggle is what matters. Sometimes, the best way to get a break from the hardships of life is to simply laugh with friends and family. It’s a Balance process. Some people can be caught up in life’s problems and forget to laugh. Laughter is the mental medicine for life. Laughter supports the health of the body. Laughter can break up the quietness in a room. Laughter can change the room from black and white to a rainbow of colors. Laughter is a result of looking at something in a positive light. Is the glass half empty or half full? Whatever the circumstance, never underestimate the power of a good giggle. Never forget to laugh.
My aspiration toward a better education starts all the way back to when I started school in Russia. Out of the short educational experience that I had in Russia, I remember that almost everybody wanted to be the straight-A student (or straight-"5" by Russian grading). That, combined with the constant pressure from my family helped me get excited about school and made me want to learn. My education in Russia was cut short, however, when we moved to the United States.