I started the pendulum motion of my arm, brought it forward, and released my grip on the ball. I watched as the ball crossed the plane of the plate, and tried to slow down the beat of my heart. The umpire yelled a loud, reverberating, " Ball four! Take your base!" The beat of my heart had not only slowed down, it had completely stopped.
As I stood motionless, I heard the voice of the opposing coach, " I told you she wouldn't throw strikes." When I finally realized what had happened, my heart plummeted down to my gut and disbelief filled me. I had walked in the tying run, and now I had walked in the winning run. As I walked to the sideline, the depths of defeat engulfed me. At that point, I understood what the agony of defeat meant.
When I finally surfaced from the depths, I found myself riding in my dad's truck. I looked over at my dad, and tried to get up the courage to talk to him. I had never really had any trouble talking to him before, but there seemed to be an impassable waterway between us now. Before I could say anything, he said my name. I turned to him and replied, " Yeah?" My dad paused a moment and agonizingly said,
" Do I put too much pressure on you?" We had met the waterway head on, and it was my decision to plunge in or avoid the obstacle.
With great deliberation, I answered, " Yeah, sometimes." What followed was a conversation that changed my relationship with my dad forever. When the conversation was over, I knew two things for certain: my dad loved me, and no matter how many people I struck out or walked, he was going to be there for me. By the time we reached home, a sense of peace flooded over me. Along with the peace came a strong conviction that overwhelmed me. I realized tha...
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...d my adrenaline pushed me to continue on.
The score was 9-7, in our favor, with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, and there were two runners on. Sweat was dripping down my face, and my heart was racing. I started the pendulum motion of my arm, brought my arm forward, and released my grip on the ball. The bat met the ball and the ball was lofted into the air. Our first baseman, Sherri Muncie, planted herself beneath the ball, raised her mitt, and caught the ball. In unison, the team let out a loud, reverberating yell of triumph. We all raced to our water cooler and ran after my dad. A torrent of water flooded over him, and the victory was complete. We had risen from the depths of defeat, conquered our opponents, and were the victors of the day. For me, the victory was a conquering of my own fears and the gain of a sense of confidence in myself.
The Dangers of Fear Irish Playwright, George Bernard Shaw, once said, “The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that's the essence of inhumanity.” Inhumanity is mankind’s worst attribute. Every so often, ordinary humans are driven to the point where they have no choice but to think of themselves. One of the most famous examples used today is the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night demonstrates how fear is a debilitating force that causes people to lose sight of who they once were.
As I lay on my bed, that night I could still hear the umpire calling “ballgame” and solidifying victory and our mark on Mountain Grove Softball history. The adrenaline and excitement of the moment were still running through my veins as my mind started to drift. I soon found myself thinking of
I looked in their faces and knew mine mirrored theirs. I didn’t want it to, but it did. Just ten minutes ago, we all were so jubilant. We were so sure we were going to win. We had all wanted it for so long, but we finally felt is as our destiny just a few moments ago. But as our opponent threw the ball in the air, I knew she was just about to serve another ace. However, when the ball landed three feet in front of our best passer, something snapped inside of me.
...so much that his feet needed to be shrunken in order for the viewer to fully see the body. All of the other details are also severely accentuated, from the drapery that shows an anatomically correct figure to the strikingly realistic stigmata. The emotional quality of this painting is uncontested, and the details that set it apart from other Lamentations are only side notes to the amazing perspective that Mantegna was able to produce.
For decades the focus of special education has been to “fit” students with disabilities into a program that has not provided them the tools necessary to further succeed in life. Educational standards for students in special education programs are often lowered, and students are not challenged to think critically and expand their knowledge above and beyond these lowered expectations. The implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) began to challenge this standard and demanded free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment for students with disabilities (Sands, Kozleski, & French, 2000).
As I looked at the scoreboard all I was focusing on was the running clock…25...24...23...22... "One last play and this things over" I said to my teammates in the huddle. "The easiest play in all of football baby!" RJ exclaimed to me. 18…17…16...15 I ran up to the line, a sigh over relief came over me. I knew I did it again. "HIKE!" And all I had to do was take a knee. 12... 10.... 8... 6...4...2...1. Game over, 55-49. In my head all I could think about was the MVP of the game: ME.
There I was walking to see who made the softball team. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach, worried that I would not make the team. As I looked at the names nervously, I could feel goosebumps appearing on my arms. To my surprise my name was on the list and I could not have been happier.
With seconds to spare I arrived at batting practice and began to prepare for my game. I hear coach call out my name and as I he acknowledged that I was there he told me I was pitching. My brain shifted and went into a whole new mode, I was more focused and more determined than I have ever been. This was the biggest baseball game of my career and I 'm starting on the mound. Honestly it couldn 't have turned out any better, the fate of the pin and my team lied in my hands and I loved the pressure. The pressure made me thrive and before I knew it our team was marching onto the field for the national anthem. During the singing of the national anthem I peeked into the crowd and first row down the first base side was the little boy I met on the cart and his dad sitting right next to him. This game was for that little boy, I needed to impress him. I pitched six strong innings and my team ended up winning the game. It was the most exciting game of my career and the best part was being greeted with the best pin in the tournament after such a spectacular win. The little boy ran out into the middle of the field where we shook our opponents hands and in front of everyone in the stadium handed me the only thing I cared about besides winning. I was in the best mood for the rest of the day and I rewarded myself with a nice long sleep. I could only image what the next day had to
All we had to do was beat a team we had beat numerous times before and then we would be in the finals. Easy right? So we thought. Going into that game I did not expect to feel the heartbreak that I did when it ended. Finally, game day had arrived; in the first inning, things seemed to be going as planned, we were up five or six runs. By the fourth inning, we were down nine to five and it only went downhill from there. My heart started to ache and the feeling of frustration flew through my body. As the ninth inning rolled around we were still losing and we could not get it
The fifth inning they went up on us three runs, and after that we returned scored one run. The following inning they added another run to the board then we struck back with a run. At that point the last inning came and we got three outs on them and we came fixing to make something happen. Our first runner got on base with a walk then the following hitter hit it into a double play. At that point our next runner gets on base with a single, and I come up and get a three-two count and I battle off another strike, then I see a curveball off the pitchers hand and I swing as hard as I could. At that point, "bam" went the ball down the first base line to the fence. Our lead runner comes in for a score and as im passing second I look back to where the ball was and the ball was getting thrown in. Sliding into third I hear the third baseman catch the ball, in a split second I slide off the base and he puts a tag on me for the ball game.
Immediately, I angled my position and went for a dead sprint toward the water. I jumped off the cliff. I never felt anything like it; the trajectory had me flying through the air for longer than I expected. A surge of adrenaline pulsed through my body, bringing a new sense of life to me. The scorching heat went away as gravity pulled my body toward the water, bringing me a pleasant breeze through my fall. Then, I finally hit the water. I didn’t stick a solid landing, as I went head first into the water. I panicked and opened my eyes under the murky water, only to see nothing but dirt and sediments float around me. I kept sinking and saw a monstrous fish swim right in front of my face. At that very moment, my body went into overdrive, and I managed to project myself back up to the surface.
Our kicker went on to kick the extra point, as only one minute remained on the time clock. The Clark Cougars went on to beat the Williams Warriors. I could see it now on the front page of the town newspaper. "Clark demolishes Williams for the first time in 14 years!" We finally beat the best team in the world! As we celebrated, and jumped around on the soggy grass, a tear came to my eye. It was all hitting me now. I finally achieved the goal of my life! I could not control the tremendous smirk on my face. As I watched the coach from the opposing team cry in agony, I thought to myself, "That must be what they call the agony of defeat." I knew that the moment of my life I had long waited for, was gone. Only memories are left in my mind, and I cherish every single one of them.
I think it was at its peak from about the age of twelve to roughly
Scarnati, J. T. (2001). Cooperative learning: make groupwork work. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 67(Fall), 71-82.
The philosophy of inclusive education has “brought about teams of general education and special education teachers working collaboratively or cooperatively to combine their professional knowledge, perspectives, and skills” (Ripley, 1997). Many approaches have been developed and researched over the years to determine best practices for inclusive education in public schools, which include mainstreaming and specialized schools. The challenge for educators and school systems is deciding which approach and strategies meets the individual needs all students in classrooms.