How Sports Impacted My Life

I feel that I learned a lot from playing sports. I think that sports made me learn how to preserver and not give up when life gets tough. The following list is what I learned from playing each sport.

1. Gymnastics: I think gymnastics brought me a lot of joy as a little girl because I was so short and tiny that I could flip all around and join the competition team where I was able to make a lot of friends. I loved the floor the best because I thought it was so fun to do round-off back handsprings and the routines were fitted to match my personality. I remember before I was able to do a backhand spring I would stay after practice every day with my coach every day until I finally got my backhand spring. I was so proud of myself that day and realized that hard work equals being able to reap the benefits

2. Dance: I have loved to dance my whole life. I think making up the routines is half of the fun and I think that is what allows my creativity to soar and is an outlet for me to express my personality.

3. Tennis: I think that tennis has made me have a lot of strong will and determination because it is an individual sport. When you are playing singles there is no one on the court to blame other than yourself and I think it helped me to establish a lot of grit. I learned how to preserver through a tie breaker match and I think those skills have been transferred into every day life with my will to never give up.

4. Lacrosse: This is where I learned my team playing skills. I think that I learned how to work as a team, assist my fellow players and also know when to use my own skills to help our team. I played midfield which was really fun because I would love to get the ball on the draw then sprint all the way down the field. That adrenaline rush is something I will never forget.

5. Swimming: Swimming is where I learned endurance because you have to maintain your stamina in swimming. I remember this story my mom always told me at my first swim meet. She said we were running late and she didn't even have time to give me a pep talk or anything before and as soon as we got there she basically though me on the block and it was my heat's time to jump off the blocks. I jumped off the block with 0 hesitation and hit the ground running while all the other kids next to me were crying and couldn't jump off the blocks. I think this was where my risk taking ability and competitive drive was formed. I have continue to nurture these two aspects throughout my life but I think swimming for sure helped me establish those traits in me.