The sun was beating down on my back, sweat dripping down my already terrified face. I was about to make one of the most important phone calls of my life to date. This one, single phone call was the make or break point of my future college softball career. It was the call to one of my dream schools. The call where I would accept my offer from Campbell University to play Division I softball. For as long as I can remember, I have dreamed of playing college softball. The dream was due to my love for the game and my desire for competing. This drive is very common in our environment, which tends to base success solely on competitions. Our society runs on competition, with the results constantly defining our worth in positive and negative ways;
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Growing up, I had a very low self-esteem and was extremely shy. This was mainly due to my far below average height and weight for my age at the time. I was looked down upon and seen as less talented, just based on my size and the fact that I was a girl. Lois Frankel stated, “Women have to work twice as hard to be considered as half as good” (248). This exemplifies the struggle that I, and many other girls, face while growing up. No matter how good at a competitive sport I became, the boys and the bigger girls were always viewed as better. Once I realized that the title of being better wasn’t the end goal, I gained confidence and realized I was the most talented despite what the biased views of others said. Knowing that I had the talent to succeed allowed me to appreciate competition and gain a newfound sense of confidence. This new mindset allowed me to grow as a player and as a person for the …show more content…
Discrimination also sprouted based on my family’s choices. Due to being a military child, I was not fortunate enough as to be able to play on the same team, with the same people, my entire life. This lead to doubts and unfair treatment by coaches in nearly every place I went. The attitude my coaches had towards me trickled down to the player level, where I faced teasing based on my differences. Specifically, I remember living in Hawaii and being the only “mainlander” on the team. I was discriminated against by the coaches, who limited the playing time and coaching I was receiving. Also, by the players who teased me and outcasted me solely on my background. As stated in the text, “No one wanted to have her on their team because she was known for being so nitpicky” (Frankel 249). In this excerpt, they were referring to how women perfectionists were seen as different, so they were unwanted. This is similar to the feeling I got while living in Hawaii, trying to succeed on a team where I was unwanted. This experience drove me to work harder than ever to prove any doubters wrong. Which is something that has stuck in my personality to this
Growing up, I had a very low self-esteem and was extremely shy. This was mainly due to my far below average height and weight for my age at the time. I was looked down upon and seen as less talented, just based on my size and the fact that I was a girl. Lois Frankel stated, “Women have to work twice as hard to be considered as half as good” (248). This exemplifies the struggle that I, and many other girls, face while growing up. No matter how good at a competitive sport I became, the boys and the bigger girls were always viewed as better. Once I realized that the title of being better wasn’t the end goal, I gained confidence and realized I was the most talented despite what the biased views of others said. Knowing that I had the talent to succeed allowed me to appreciate competition and gain a newfound sense of confidence. This new mindset allowed me to grow as a player and as a person for the …show more content…
Discrimination also sprouted based on my family’s choices. Due to being a military child, I was not fortunate enough as to be able to play on the same team, with the same people, my entire life. This lead to doubts and unfair treatment by coaches in nearly every place I went. The attitude my coaches had towards me trickled down to the player level, where I faced teasing based on my differences. Specifically, I remember living in Hawaii and being the only “mainlander” on the team. I was discriminated against by the coaches, who limited the playing time and coaching I was receiving. Also, by the players who teased me and outcasted me solely on my background. As stated in the text, “No one wanted to have her on their team because she was known for being so nitpicky” (Frankel 249). In this excerpt, they were referring to how women perfectionists were seen as different, so they were unwanted. This is similar to the feeling I got while living in Hawaii, trying to succeed on a team where I was unwanted. This experience drove me to work harder than ever to prove any doubters wrong. Which is something that has stuck in my personality to this