Within the underdeveloped, malleable psyche of every person, young and old, there still resides the unavoidable capacity for self doubt. Within my own mind, this capacity was overwhelming. Plunging into the real world of the public school system from the safety of my coddled, private school lifestyle left my self confidence in shambles. Grades were no longer handed out with attendance and my meager, yet stable, social standing had failed to accompany me on my journey to a new school. Day by day I trudged wearily down the halls in a seemingly permanent state of ennui. The vitality of my step waned further, as did my personal satisfaction with who I was. Looking back, I consider this period of my life to be the darkest, most miserable portion.
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I needed something, anything, to provide that welcome step from mediocrity. I found the vehicle of my revitalization in the form of a sport: football. I had never been particularly adept in the sport because, I came to find, I had never sufficiently applied myself. I realized that this was true, not just on the field, but in the classroom as well. I staggered through school haphazardly for most of my life, never comprehending what it actually meant to work; to earn something and reap the fruit of one’s own labor. The rich satisfaction of something earned tastes far sweeter than that of something given. This new ideology manifested itself rather rapidly and quite unexpectedly one day. I sat in math class absentmindedly perusing the variety of perplexed looks that surrounded me, eyes heavy laden with the weight of algebra, when an announcement came over the loudspeaker: “All students who intend on playing high school football report to the library immediately. *click.” Having nothing better to do, I meandered to the library with a flock of my peers and took my seat. Our high school football coach spoke nothing ostensibly riveting or inspiring that day. In fact, I doubt it was anything I had not heard before. He spoke of hardwork and dedication and surmounting the constraints of average, but for the first time in my life, I listened, tirelessly. Whether it was the result of the coach’s weighted authority, a sudden influx …show more content…
Finally grasping the concept of fruit-bearing labor, I dove enthusiastically into my rebirth. I rose at 5:00a.m. before school and set out for runs of at least three miles. I extracted soft drinks, fast food, and red meat from my diet completely, while subsequently consuming supplements to reimburse my caloric output. The logic and effort I put into my physical self was quickly extrapolated to my mental self, as I reconciled to give forth my maximum effort in all of my endeavors. At last I realized what “blood, sweat, and tears” really meant. For the first time I understood what it meant to earn a keep and nothing has ever been so sweet as the results of that
I needed something, anything, to provide that welcome step from mediocrity. I found the vehicle of my revitalization in the form of a sport: football. I had never been particularly adept in the sport because, I came to find, I had never sufficiently applied myself. I realized that this was true, not just on the field, but in the classroom as well. I staggered through school haphazardly for most of my life, never comprehending what it actually meant to work; to earn something and reap the fruit of one’s own labor. The rich satisfaction of something earned tastes far sweeter than that of something given. This new ideology manifested itself rather rapidly and quite unexpectedly one day. I sat in math class absentmindedly perusing the variety of perplexed looks that surrounded me, eyes heavy laden with the weight of algebra, when an announcement came over the loudspeaker: “All students who intend on playing high school football report to the library immediately. *click.” Having nothing better to do, I meandered to the library with a flock of my peers and took my seat. Our high school football coach spoke nothing ostensibly riveting or inspiring that day. In fact, I doubt it was anything I had not heard before. He spoke of hardwork and dedication and surmounting the constraints of average, but for the first time in my life, I listened, tirelessly. Whether it was the result of the coach’s weighted authority, a sudden influx …show more content…
Finally grasping the concept of fruit-bearing labor, I dove enthusiastically into my rebirth. I rose at 5:00a.m. before school and set out for runs of at least three miles. I extracted soft drinks, fast food, and red meat from my diet completely, while subsequently consuming supplements to reimburse my caloric output. The logic and effort I put into my physical self was quickly extrapolated to my mental self, as I reconciled to give forth my maximum effort in all of my endeavors. At last I realized what “blood, sweat, and tears” really meant. For the first time I understood what it meant to earn a keep and nothing has ever been so sweet as the results of that