Personal Statement
WHY CHOOSE ME ?
The whole world goes silent, calm even, when I'm on my knees; another dimension opens in my mind. "On your mark! Get set! GO!" It's like the world stops when I'm running, moving through the wind as if there were no tomorrow - reaching the finish line was my grail. Having the discipline to run around a field, over a hill and on a track as many times a your coach tells you doesn't take the willpower of a man, but rather the heart of a champion.
Sports is my dialysis, I need hours upon hours of it to survive, it is my nebulizing machine, without it I'm breathless. Feeling the sensational adrenaline rush as I lift off one knee to prepare to exit the blocks as well as the rush of the lactic acid as I aggressively tilt my torso over with desperation and hunger for success just a few meters shy of the white line, are feelings I will never grow tired of feeling.
Who would have thought that such profound love for athletics blossomed from mandatory community service. I developed, what could have been called then, feelings of infatuations for sports when I first volunteered for my high school's track and field team; I was just there to mark the attendance register and operate cones, however that was just enough for crazy liking of the sport to develop. A couple weeks later I began training with the team and the feelinv of infatuation quickly turned into true love.
"Tired is dead," was what my coach would say when I told him I'm tired. Being able to push yourself pass the average level any teenage body can manage is what I had to do while participating in athletics. I trained for hours upon hours and days after days; I had goals I intended on reaching.
When I look at the young man I am today versus what I was like before athletics came into my life, I see someone who is more confident, respectful, disciplined, well-rounded, helpful, talented and goal-oriented. I strongly believe that these traits were instilled in me because of athletics.
Athletics was and still remains my get away ticket from the struggles of being an high school students with so many academic and social responsibilities. Whenever I train all the burdens that come with being a product of a low-income family and living in a poor socio-economic community fade away. My injury currently hinders my from competing, however, it doesn't hinder me from getting my hours of training in.
It was never easy balancing athletics with school , right there and then it was a battle between mind and body and as usual they would compete. My mind saying I need to study and do my homework but, my body was saying its tired after a hard day at training and it need to rest to repair body cells and tissues; this was the tug of war that took place for my entire academic and athletic school year.
My love for athletics was stronger than my love for books; I would prefer to train all day than read one of my text books. However in order to partake in sports my grades had to be of a certain standard; it's therefore safe to say that sports directly contributes to my now positive attitude towards my school work.
