An impactful school experience.

Cindy Robinson

Dr. Kimberly Knutsen

ENGO 111- Composition and Rhetoric

2rd July 2022

 An impactful school experience.

As a varsity volleyball team member, I have learned a lot. As a consequence of this encounter, my entire perspective on life has changed. In the years leading up to my first year of high school, I was an introvert with low self-esteem who avoided difficult situations. All of these characteristics have got altered by volleyball. Team warm-up was touch volleyball on freshman practice’s first day. The game began with the players organized into groups. As the game went on, it was clear that I wasn’t running as hard as I could or evading my defender as much as I could have. Indeed, I did not want the ball thrown at me in the first place in the event that the play went awry because I fumbled the ball, I didn’t want to be the first to blame. The fear of making a mistake prevented me from taking the responsibility of supporting my teammates. That aspect of my personality was dominant during my first year of high school. I didn’t ask questions in class because my classmates would think they were stupid. Every day, I went to practice and came home physically and emotionally.

However, I couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that I might be called upon if another player became injured. Making mistakes and being blamed by yelling coaches and angry teammates still terrified me. Occasionally, the fears got realized. Many times during my sophomore year, I found myself playing in varsity games as a backup guard. On these occasions, I was prone to making blunders. Most of the time, the errors were inconsequential; they had little impact on the play’s outcome.

Despite this, after practice, I was given a heavy verbal flogging for my mistakes during the session. My concerns about participating in the game were even more intense as a result. Despite this, there were some instances in which I got things right. The fact that it got hailed as one of the greatest plays brought a smile to my face. Now that I’m going into my last year of volleyball, I feel like a different person than I did when I was younger.

Playing volleyball has taught me a lot about what it takes to be successful in life. This hard work ethic is the result of months of rigorous training. and learned how to work well with others in the team and teammates because it’s essential to work together on the field. Most importantly, I’ve grown in confidence in myself. Even if they mock or ridicule me, I’ll give it another go and see if I can improve. To attain success, you must take a risk. I’ve come to accept this. I now understand what the coaches meant when they said nothing is impossible before a game. As a result, I’m eager to accept the challenge. If I succeed, it doesn’t really matter; what counts is that I’ve put myself out there and put myself to the test.