This is Sam Grear, your student at the ALC. I was expelled from Hume Fogg in the beginning of December for a zero tolerance offense. Before this event, I made a series of very ignorant and impulsive decisions, that, consequently, led to my expulsion. I have spent much time mulling over the implications of these events, as well as possible causes, and have found that not only is it my fault, and my fault alone, but also that I can recover; I can resume a normal life. To be honest, the point that probably caused this whole situation was in 7th grade, when I left the group of my best friends for one that seemed “cooler.” Another thing I might change would be to take school more seriously; to try harder and to do all of my assignments. While this doesn’t seem quite related to the subject, my indifference toward work led to a lack of interest in most things, especially school, which in turn led to a feeling of ennui that I thought could only be filled by taking risks and acting on sudden impulses. …show more content…
I’ve learned how devastating the effects of certain decisions can be, along with how important it is to avoid negative influences in my life. I’ve become more devoted to school, and have found that it’s a useful distraction from those negative influences. I’ve decided to join the tennis team and maybe next year the baseball team, because athletic activities provide a good way for me to spend my
Before my years in high school, I rarely put time and effort into studying and constantly associated with my friends at school; that is until I entered high school. The different competitive atmosphere at high school caused me to suddenly prioritize my studies ahead of everything else and my ambition became greater than ever. I began to interact less with my old friends and become less sociable with those around me. My parents also began to notice this drastic change and encouraged me to once in a while contact my old friends. During the beginning, I contacted my friends about two or three times a week, but the phone calls began to gradually diminish. I began to abandon my previous cheerful, ebullient nature in order to conform to the competitive, tense study environment at high school. As long as I successfully accomplished my goals and was accepted by others, I was willing to alter myself in order to assimilate into the mainstream environment. Through my hard work and perseverance, I was able to reach my goal and receive the acknowledgement of others; however, despite fulfilling all my ambitions, I did not feel any joy or satisfaction within myself. Even though I successfully accomplished my objectives in school, I realized that in return I completely sacrificed my social life. Despite being accepted by others, I began to feel a sense of loneliness and longed to
My first week of school, everyone encouraged me to join a club or a team. Of course I did not want to, until I heard we had a track team, and even then I did not know if I wanted to pursue it. In my mind, debating if I should dedicate myself to track was a hard decision. I was about to not only give this sport my time but also nothing but
I have been a four year letter-winner in volleyball and basketball. Athletics have been a crucial part of developing my character and work ethic. In sports, you must work together with your team to reach your goals. Trust and communication skills are vital and are tested every day. The failure and setbacks I have faced through sports have helped me to believe in myself and have the self-confidence that it takes to be successful in athletics and in life. As a senior captain of the volleyball and basketball teams, my leadership has improved tremendously as high school has progressed. Being a leader holds me accountable and I aim to be a role model for younger teammates on the court, in the classroom, and in the community.
These events have helped me grow as a person because it has helped me see that if you quit something as easy as sports then you can or will quit something that is more important like a job, school, or anything else that is more important than sports. My belief shows me that if you stick with sports even when you don’t like the coach, teammates, your position, or you can’t adjust to a new coach, then you can stick with a job, or school, even if you don’t like a the professor, your boss, or what you are doing. This I
In my life, I had not had the chance to be a part of something that influenced me much, until I joined football my freshman year in high school. Joining football was perhaps the most devoted and wisest thing that I did because shortly after joining I began to see changes for the better, and from then I saw the person that I wanted to be in the future. In other words, it shaped the person that I am today and will be for the rest of my life. Not only did the sport influence me but it also equipped me with a new mindset that affects me today in my decision making skills, time management and many other beneficial life virtues. I believe that these virtues will bring me success in the nearest future because I feel confident about myself and I feel more in control in my life through my actions, all thanks to simply joining what seemed to be a “regular” extracurricular.
In my freshman year at Lewisville High School I joined the wrestling team. Originally my only reason for joining this discourse community was to lose the weight I gained over the previous summer, but that changed when I got to experience the joy of wrestling firsthand. Being a part of the wrestling team helped me understand the inner workings of the sport, the importance of team chemistry, and what perseverance can accomplish. Joining this discourse community was the best decision I made high school by far.
As most children did, I had the choice to play whatever sport I wanted. Considering my height, 5’10, most would assume that I played either basketball or volleyball. No one expected me to play tennis, and was surprised when I said that I did. During my elementary years, I played softball for seven years, and when I hit eighth grade, I decided to play tennis. My decision came about because of my sister. I had always followed closely in her footsteps because I looked up to her a lot, so when I saw she was playing; I wanted to try it out too. I had never really thought about what it would be like to play tennis. I didn’t hate it, or really know what it would be like to play it. And little did I know that playing would demand so much time, energy, and effort.
Each game, my passion grew. Each team, new memories and lifelong friends were made. Sports sometimes make me feel disappointment and at loss; but it taught me to be resilient to a lot of things, like how to thrive under pressure and come out on top. Being the team captain of my high school’s football and lacrosse team showed me how having a big responsibility to bring a group together to work as one is compared to many situations in life. Currently playing varsity football, varsity lacrosse, and track I take great pride in the activities I do. Staying on top of my academics, being duel enrolled at Indian River State College, working three nights a week, and two different sport practices after school each day shaped my character to having a hard work
I decided that I wanted to play a sport, I chose volleyball. Most of my friends played the sport so it wasn't hard for me to adjust and make new friends. Becoming a student athlete was a big adjustment for me, I could no longer float through my classes but I need to excel. And that's exactly what I did. For the first time in my high school career I made not only honor roll, but principal’s honor roll. For the first time my mom was proud of my report card, that made me even more proud. From then on I knew I wanted nothing less than what I earned, good grades and a proud family. From my decision to chose to become a student athlete not only make me work harder but, be great at everything I put my mind to. I had motivation to stay successful, to stay eligible. Three years ago if you were to ask me where I thought I would be my senior year, I probably would have told you low level classes barely making it by. Now here I am today excelling in my education preparing to take the next step in my future, college. Even if we don’t understand why we go through them, we have to be willing to let our obstacles become out
Initial Reflective Essay When I first thought of what I wanted to do with my life after college, the first thing I thought of was helping people. The next step in deciding what I wanted to do with my life was to examine how I could accomplish this goal. I started pondering and I was thinking about how much I love to take care of my body. Health care and personal hygiene has always been an important factor in my life. So I decided to major in Health Sciences.
I’ve always been the type of person that truly enjoys athletics and have participated in nearly all sports offered to me. I started playing sports in elementary with club softball and basketball. As I entered my middle and high school years I was able to add the school sanctioned sports to my list of activities. This afforded me the opportunity of competing in volleyball, basketball, golf, track and softball. The camaraderie and life lessons of sports seemed invaluable to me.
By now, I was a 17 year old, crazy busy high school student. Meanwhile, I was still juggling my softball career. This was the point in my athletic career, however, that I started considering different options. College was approaching faster than I anticipated, or at least the idea of it was, and I had no idea what was to come of my eight years experience in that diamond-shaped field. If you would have asked me two years ago what my plans for the future were, I would have told you the same thing any competitive athlete would’ve said. It would have been the same, “I want to go to college on a (insert sport here) scholarship, and eventually become a professional after college!” It was unpractical, I know, but it was a dream. Two years later, here I was feeling like very dream I had was changing, and it thoroughly terrified me. I had no idea what career paths I was looking for, and my confidence in my abilities had dropped
I never imagined that one sport could completely change the way I look at life. When I was ten years old, my father dragged me out on the tennis court. Once I started playing regularly and improving, I knew that I had found something I loved. My passion for tennis has been the driving force behind my success and happiness during my high school years. Hard work, discipline and composure on the tennis court has made me a better all around person.
Some of the major stresses faced by student athletes tended to be, lack of time, unrealistic academic and athletic pressure along with mental health issues. A majority of universities are currently doing very little help alleviate these stresses, unintentionally placing the burden on the backs of the student athletes themselves. Current high school athletes need to look at the risks and rewards of becoming a collegiate athlete and make a decision based on what’s best for them. In many cases, the greatest decision made by students was to pursue their dreams and become a collegiate athlete. For some this proved to be their downfall, unfortunately being unable to successfully manage the pressure and expectations of being a student and an athlete simultaneously. From personal experience I can tell you, being successful in both areas will come down to proper time management. Despite the lack of time and even added stress, following my dream to play collegiate tennis has being one of the best decisions of my
Since I was young, I never had much of an interest in sports. I found myself easily bored by them and left behind in the whole excitement of the game. The only reason I mention this is because it’s an important part of understanding my relationship with tennis. When I entered the 10th grade, I looked for extracurricular activities to join, since I had not joined any during middle school nor the first year of high school. I chose tennis for my sport because I had taken a few lessons when I was much younger and seemed to remember those fondly, or at the very least, more fondly than any other sport.