Don’t Look Down on Athletes        

I am an athlete but it doesn’t mean I am only an athlete. I am proud of being an athlete and I am proud of accomplishing great things in it. However, it doesn't mean that it occupies all of my life and it doesn’t mean I am restricted by it. Strength is a tree, it does not limit into a narrow branch. It grows in several branches and consist of different elements in each of the branches. This links back to how athletes are viewed differently and seen as having only a single branch in life.  

I have already been passionate and enthusiastic about sports when I was little. It did not stop and more specifically, it continues until now. I am still that energetic child that desires to devote efforts in sports in my daily life and dream to live with it forever. I was able to accomplish great achievements and being quite successful in sports because of the willingness to put my dedication and hard work into something that I love. Nonetheless, it all changes as I started to get confused about who actually am I from the world’s perspective. Lastly, I found out I was meant to be the guy that is only suppose to be athletic because of the assumption of not being capable of doing something great in other things.

It all happened in 7th grade as I was able to continue my passion about sports in my physical education class. I continued to work hard and have spent my full efforts in every class not because of the desire to earn an A+, but the reason of just simply loves and enjoy that moment that sports have given me. I continued to carry the same mindset for the whole semester. I did not have any regrets or complaints on putting this much efforts into this course even though my classmates might feel like it is a waste of effort and time. At the last day of school, I was able to be the athlete of the year for the whole 7th grades. This award wasn’t just a piece of paper for me, it looks like it is glowing in a way that I am able to see it. It is a representation of glory and honor. Being able to receive this award is like being able to be the first person to step over the finish line of a race. It requires me to not just be outstanding but the best in the class. However, I have heard words about me saying that “I am good at sport because I am not capable of making decent accomplishments in other things”. At that moment, I started to realize how important it is to be able to keep and maintain the balance between multiple areas or else I will be tagged as the type of person that have “well developed limbs but a moronic head” which I totally accept the claim because I barely get a high honor award in that year.

I started to work on making a balance between athletic and academic in the following years to prove that I am not the type of person that I am supposed to be from others’ point of view and to show that being athletic doesn’t mean I am only capable of doing sports related activities. I found it very hard to achieve this goal as I have to spend extra time on sports but also maintain the grades that I am desiring to get. It is very tiring and extremely challenging for me since I wasn't considered as the smart person in our class. In spite of that, I finished strong and I was being able to received my first ever superintendent award in 9th grade as well as being able to participate in Varsity volleyball team and won two 2nd place throughout the year. I am grateful to maintain the positive attitudes throughout these years and validate that “nothing is impossible when you believe”.

After all of that, I believed I have proven wrong about the stereotypes about athletes especially about how athletes are only capable of athletic activities. I aim to diminish this stereotype about athletes since athletes should not be look down on their ability just by their identity. This I Believe.

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