Dear Colleagues I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to share with you a personal experience I had during my Freshman Year. which recounts my experiences transitioning from middle school to high school. particularly focusing on the challenges, I faced balancing my passion for basketball with unexpected academic hurdles. The transition from middle school to high school is a huge moment in a student's life, marked by excitement, aspirations, and the anticipation of new opportunities. For many, this period encompasses not only academic endeavors but also the pursuit of extracurricular passions. My own high school initiation, particularly my freshman year, unfolded as a journey that blended dedication to basketball with unforeseen challenges in the academic realm. Little did I know that a clash with a particular teacher would significantly impact my athletic aspirations and leave an indelible mark on my early high school experience. This narrative recounts the emotional education I gained during that formative year, exploring the complexities of balancing sports, academics, and the unexpected twists that can alter one's course. As the school year began, my focus was squarely on basketball. Attending workouts, open gym sessions, and weightlifting sessions with the team, I envisioned a season filled with …show more content…
The purpose of the meeting was clear—to appeal for a slight adjustment in my grade due to the teacher's acknowledgment that my quiz had indeed been submitted. Despite my exemplary behavior in class, consistent participation, and never being a disruption, the teacher adamantly refused to grant the.1% needed to pass the class. The disappointment was palpable, not only because I couldn't play basketball but also because an undeserved F missed out on my spotless academic
Most student-athletes grow up as very innocent lads bedecked with tremendous talents and become very promising in sports. Thus, they become rays of hope for their families, neighborhoods, and schools yet to be determined. Like the lamb in William Blake’s poem The Lamb, they are fed “by the stream & o’er the mead; gave…clothing of delight, softest clothing, wooly, bright…making all the vales rejoice.” (Smith 24) Then they are exposed to the life of hard work in which only the fittest survives. This makes them ready for the different challenges in the sports scene.
Sports play a large part of an athletic student’s life, weighing heavily on one’s identity. In his essay, “Cut”, Bob Greene relays how he and several others are cut from their middle school sports team because “[they weren’t] good enough” (Greene 58). Because of this cut, Greene and his peers end up pushing harder than ever in other areas of their life. He notes, “an inordinately large proportion of successful men share… the memory
High school sports are approached with clashing opinions. Some of these opinions are positive, and supportive of athletics. “Athleticism, among many activities, offers teens a physical outlet to exert their troubles, anger, emotions, and other feelings” (Chen 1). This can be observed in nearly all of the football players in Friday Night Lights. This can also be noticed in the world today. “Athletics help high school students understand their own abilities and talents” (Chen 1). This piece of evidence is very accurate when describing high school athletes. Sports can make a high school student humble. As can be seen by the preceding information, high school athletics can have a positive impact on a student’s life.
Starting my freshman year at County High School, I played basketball and loved every minute of it. I wouldn’t be conceited enough to say I was good, but God did bless me with the talent to play. My life revolved around the sport of basketball; some would say I slept, ate, and breathed every part of it. I spent all my time training and practicing to make myself a more dedicated athlete. This dedication not only helped me as a player, but also molded me into the person I am today. It somehow helped to prepare me for what defeat I would face with back surgery in the future.
Throughout school I was never really athletic. While I excelled in all my academic and artistic classes, I barely scraped by in gym class. My parents forced me to join soccer and cheerleading as a child, in hopes that I would find something I was good at, but I would complain about it until, ultimately, they’d allow me to quit. Needless to say, I never really understood the fuss about high school sports. In Amanda Ripley’s article, “The Case Against High School Sports,” she argues that the craze over high school sports may actually be harming American school systems.
Raised in a small town of 750 people, where high school sports meant everything, sport has played a tremendous role in my life. Basketballs and footballs replaced stuffed animals in cribs, and dribbling a basketball came before learning to ride a bike. I started playing basketball in the second grade, and I hated it. We always played in the division above us and we hardly ever won a game, but after watching Coach Summitt and the Tennessee Lady Volunteers win back to back National Championships, the same years my high school girls basketball team won back to back State Championships, I fell in love with the game. In fact, sport is what led me to the University of Tennessee; I admired Pat Summitt, not only because of the number of wins and National Championships, but also because of
I am writing this appeal letter, because I have received a letter saying that I am eligible to attend the University of Wisconsin La Crosse anymore due to my academic standing. I wish, and hope that you may reconsider. I have been attending this college for two years now, hoping to go on my third. And I would love to say that I enjoy this community very much and that I wish to stay. I wish to grow better as a student and as a member of the college community. Here in this college I am currently a leader of InterVarsity, a Christian organization on campus, and have been active in HOPE, a Hmong organization on campus. Although I have been active within the college community and have been success at it, I have failed towards being a student.
I left that project feeling extremely aware and extremely at peace. After three years of struggling to find answers, happiness, and a sense of purpose, I began to appreciate my present state of mind. I began to revel in the struggle, confusion, and push of not knowing. And as I approached graduation, my high school experience suddenly made sense to me. I understood life as a system of games. High school was simply one of them. I came to realize that playing games was both understandable and necessary as long as we are aware that we are playing them. I realized that a major struggle throughout high school had been my struggle to resist playing its game. I spent my three years at boarding school governed by my passions rather than playing by the rules of the institution. And in refusing to play by its rules, I made it increasingly more difficult for me to function within its realm.
Then I was old enough to play on my school’s junior high boys’ team. During this year and the following year as an eighth grader, I lost the passion and drive I previously had for the game of basketball. As of the 2007-2008 school year, our total enrollment barley reached 130. Because of this, we did not have a JV team like other schools, just a Varsity.
I shot two hundred baskets every night before I went in for dinner over the summer, not because I enjoyed I it, but because my mom wouldn't let me inside If I didn't. My life was consumed by the game of basketball. I remember when I used to admire everything about the gym; the smell of the hardwood floors, the sound of the rubber basketballs smacking the ground, the sweat shimmering on the court, the harsh yellow lights gleaming down from the ceiling. It made my fingers tingle, and a rush of adrenaline stemmed throughout my body. Hours of practice, camps, and games added up, and I was one of the best players in town. My priorities were as follows; athletics, family, and then school. Basketball was my only focus and it soon started to show
The pressure of having one’s family trying to decide one’s path is alarming. One should not renounce one’s personal identity, passion, and aspirations because of another person’s past negative experiences. Given that negative norms change and racism in the 1950s was phasing out for a more equal American society, Troy’s stubbornness and fright was unhealthy for himself and his family. Everyone’s experience is different and Cory’s dedication and intelligence in school earned him a football college scholarship, which not everyone can earn. Thus, whoever gets this opportunity must enjoy it and appreciate
Andrea Rivera's personal story is engaging and accessible in my opinion because her narrative humanizes the topic and highlights the challenges experienced by student athletes in juggling their participation in sports and academics. Her story highlights the difficulties and sacrifices that student athletes face, which can have a serious negative impact on their mental health. It is consistent with the notion that giving
Thompson, Christie. "Life of an athlete: balancing sports and academics." Stetson Reporter. N.p., 18 Sept. 2013. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
He sprints up and down the court, as sweat pours down his face and on to the hardwood. The player’s legs are in severe pain, and he is out of breath, yet he continues to run, utilizing every last portion of energy that he maintains. He desires to better himself, not necessarily for his own benefit, but for the benefit of his team. He knows that every single member of the team, including himself, must work as hard as they possibly can on the court to reach their potential and achieve success. Organized sports teach athletes some of the most powerful moral values and life lessons that any individual can attain. Despite the opposing opinion that students who take part in organized sports suffer academically due to time deprivation and focus misdirected away from the classroom, involvement in sports teaches young men and women to maintain imperative values, such as hard work, selflessness, and commitment, which ultimately improves student-athletes’ academic performance.
Vince Lombardi, one of the most successful football coaches of all time, said, “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but a lack of will.” Although Lombardi was primarily speaking about success on the turf, he was also speaking about success in life. Aside from being a phenomenal leader on the field, Lombardi was a leader in all aspects of life and stands as a role model for many young student athletes. When student athletes apply this extraordinary will to their academics alongside athletics, the stellar character of these young adults is revealed. Unfortunately for these athletes, many people, especially educators, blame athletics for struggles within the classroom. A common controversy amongst parents, educators, coaches, and athletes is if education is severely affected by athletic participation. When the results of classroom performance aren’t proficient or greater, it is easy to blame sports because of their time consuming nature. This topic carries a lot of weight for kids ranging from middle school to graduate students because, for many, involvement in athletics is a crucial part of developing important life skills that cannot be attained through a classroom setting, and may be the student’s only method of social outreach. Sports serve as a sanctuary, an escape, a passion, and so much more to each individual involved. Athletics have the potential to negatively impact education, if you allow them to yet research shows just as many cases of sports having positive affects on education as cases of sports being detrimental towards education. The truth of the matter is that your education is your responsibility, and sports cannot be blamed for a lack of succes...