Every one has that one passion that they either didn’t care for at first or clung right to and either way didn’t let go. Mine is football. The Experience I want to share is my football experience. Now I have much love for football but in both playing and watching. I began playing football when I was 8 years old on the Iberia Youth football league.
I was pretty small at that time and my mother was ever so worried about me. As a result, she encouraged me to pick up a sport she felt was “safer”, football. As time passed, I was very clear about one thing - there was a passion and love for football within me. I remember dad telling me how my brothers and I would beg him to allow us to play football during our free time. My brother, Sean, and I both showed talent in football.
Some of the friends I’ve made playing youth soccer have become my best friends now. We share the memories of game winning goals being scored and water bottle fights after practice. At soccer practices or games I felt like I could be myself. I was free to be silly and express myself. Despite not playing soccer anymore and being much older, I find myself in similar situations as I was while playing soccer.
Baseball has had my heart ever since my little hands were big enough to pick up a bat. Recently, I experienced the most important moment in my baseball career to date on one sunny weekend at a baseball field in Cartersville, just northwest of Atlanta. On that sunny day in Cartersville, there were baseball scouts as far as the eye could see. Any team you could put your mind to was pretty much there in attendance. I remember this day perfectly because I had recently talked to Georgia Tech’s assistant coach about coming to watch me play at this game.
It was the day before the first football game. Everybody was happy and couldn’t wait except for me. I was nervous and really wanted to do my best and prove to everybody that I was good enough. I was just sitting down waiting for school to start. Then I started to talk to my friend who underestimated me.
The smell of moist dirt and grass along with the sound of hundreds of massive trees swaying and rustling in the wind puts me at ease and makes me feel at home. Naturally, I was interested in camping and hiking as I grew older, and eventually decided to join the Boy Scouts. While in the Scouts I learned hundreds of skills, many involving wilderness survival; I would also go on multiple hikes and camp outings. There were many camping trips I went on that provided memories that will last forever, but there is one that caused me to change the way I think about
Soon after I found out the news about going to Florida, I then began to think about how we were going to get there. I have never been on a plane before, but apparently, we were going to be riding one there. After finding out that I was going to be on a plane for the first time, I was terrified. One, I am afraid of heights and two, I have never been out of the state without my family. I shouldn 't have been even panicking yet, because I haven 't asked to go yet.
I began as a Cub Scout, where I went on camping trips, hikes, and attended Cub Scout Day Camp. At the age of eleven, I earned my Arrow of Light, the highest award available to Cub Scouts. One month later, I crossed over into Boy Scouts. I must say, my life was about to change. From volunteering in the community to learning survival skills, the life lessons Boy Scouts had taught me were manifold.
I believe everyone has a special place in their mind that they think about. I had such a place that made me happy a lot of times when I was growing up. Sometimes I wondered if I was the only person who liked that place as much as I did and I always ask myself if the place will be as I remember it when if I go back to visit it. I always saw people there, but always wonder if they appreciated it as much as I did. Some would walk through and some would have a picnic, others would stop and look for a while.
I wanted to play like him, live like him, and succeed like him. But, my love for this new game came in immediate conflict with my other love, basketball. My dad had played basketball for his entire young life and his whole high school career. I have heard countless stories of basketball from my dad, stories of triple doubles and overtime wins, and I wanted to have those experiences for myself. I joined my first basketball team at seven years old, and I played in leagues ever since.