Personal Narrative: My First American Football

A football flies through the air with the velocity and height of a throw from Peyton Manning and finds its way into the ungainly hands of a four year old, who inevitably drops it. Upset, I pick up the ball again and try to throw it back to my brother. He would always say to me “Andrew, Keep your eyes on the prize and catch this ball”. Although it seemed I would never catch the ball, he never took it easy on me. This repeated process happens over and over again. Until, I finally catch the ball, for the first time. It was an incredible feat. My brother, 12 at the time, ran to me picked me up and celebrated with me. For the next 12 years whenever I am faced with a difficult challenge, my brother always reminds me of the football.

Twelve years

The runners were let loose like a raging bull in a bullfight. Noticing I was already near the back not even 30 seconds in I turned my intensity up. As I neared the first mile and I felt good. I was no longer in the back of the group. I heard my coach yell just as I start to settle into a steady pace because my calf tightened up “You are in first Andrew! Keep it up. Run smart and keep the intensity”. This was the first time I have ever been first for the team. Normally I was 5th or 6th man for the team in JV meets. I knew I couldn’t give that position up to one of my teammates, Nolan. He bested me in the last two races and trains in the group above. “I am going to beat him”. This race quickly went from a race against the other teams to a race against my teammates and myself. I ran faster to widen the gap between Nolan. As the second mile came around, my coach told me again that I was first but then immediately after I heard shouting coming from him Nolan to catch up and stay as a pack. I couldn’t help but notice how tired I was. I thought “Only one more mile, keep your eyes on the prize” My teammate caught up to me. He was breathing heavier than I was. That’s when I knew I could beat him. I ran even faster and harder. I turned a corner and I saw the finish line insight. I sprinted as fast as I could. I finished the race with the best time I have ever run by a landslide because I challenged myself. I finished 40th overall out of 140 runners and the

It was nice but I looked back at the football. I did not do it for the attention but rather the fact that from there on I would be able to do it. My race wasn’t for the attention, but to prove to myself that I was able to beat the odds. I challenged the preconceived notion that my team would end up last. As a JV team in a varsity race, with the odds against us, we came in 10th out of 17 teams. I came in 40th place out of 140 runners. On paper I should have finished near last place. I challenged what the paper said. I did not stop there, however, because the next day, after my last race of the season, I laced my running shoes up and went for a run because I was not done