Reflective Essay: Dan Thompson's Identity

Each and every person has a different way that life can shape them. There are so many things that could make up your own identity as an individual. It can either be in a positive or a negative manner. Most people are known by a specific detail that shapes their own identity. There are several different ways in this case with Dan Thompson. Hard work and dedication shaped him both in the weight room and on the football field at Park Christian High School. Dan’s identity is strongly based on two different places. The high school weight room and the football field. He started playing football when he was in seventh grade. He was just learning the basics, how everything worked and what the positions were like. His coaches put him in a certain …show more content…
They had found out that their very own quarter back was killed in a car accident with his brother. “It hit all of us seniors on the football team pretty hard.” Said Dan. He was going to be one of the captains on the football team that season. Him and Dan were classmates since Kindergarten. Dan did a 7 vs. 7 passing league with his teammate. He only ever had good things to say about him. “He would come in and cheer me on in the weight room when we would max out.” Quoted Dan. He was the image every athlete wanted to be, and was always so successful at what he did. That only pushed Dan himself, and the team to work that much harder so they could make him proud. With Dan being seen as a hard worker on and off the field, he did not want to let anyone down.The closer the season came, the harder they worked to become the best they could. “Everyone motivated each other to push themselves to do another set even if they were tired” said Dan. This tested their limits to become the best they could be. Specifically, Dan’s limits. As the summer started to come to an end, the first game of the season was just around the corner. As the first game of the year arrived, they were ready to play. His football team was a very small team. They only played “nine men” football. The ‘normal’ amount of starters is usually eleven players playing on the field. Since they are a very small school that is how many they played. Only having a roster of 16 players, did not stop them from being motivated to come out with a win thefirst game of the season. Before every game they would start out by going through a series of team stretches. Next, they would go into specific drills on offense and defense, and then go into some of their plays. Dan was described as a key leader that left an impression on the field every game. Coming into the season he did not want to disappoint. He came in with a lot of motivation and goals to become accomplished. For