The power of a spirit by Anthony

The power of a spirit by Anthony - January 2025 Scholarship Essay

During my senior year with about three games left in the season I was benched despite putting up numbers that resulted to me being one of the top players in the state at my position. Initially when this decision was made I felt like my entire world had just been swept from beneath my feet, I felt like everything I had worked so hard for since I was eight years old was all for nothing. Although with all that being said one thing still remained the same for me, the importance of my teammates and winning during my senior year, so I decided I still wanted to do whatever I could in order to finish out the season successfully. Following this decision by my coaches I went and asked my defensive coordinator if I could come play defense for him. Despite my initial feelings of wanting to give it all up, quitting right there and then giving up on my coaches as I feel they did to me, instead what I did was put a smile on my face, continued to show up and work hard while still supporting my team as the duty of a captain. All this effort earned me a starting spot on defense the following week. Even though this is something that’s been rather hard for me, my dedication and positivity has been something I’ve been able to hang my hat on despite all else. This is really the first time in my life I’ve taken such approach to a situation like this and in doing so I’ve learned that being bitter and throwing yourself a pity party about the situation does nothing, no one feels sorry for me so I have no right to feel sorry for myself. The only thing I can do is to keep moving forward. As the season comes to a conclusion I felt myself growing more frustrated and angry with the situation I was in, however, I had to focus on controlling what I could control, myself, my effort and my attitude was my personal focus for the reminder of the season. Staying positive was the best thing to do for me and my team. My whole life I’ve been taught to never let someone see they have broken you and throughout this situation I’ve remained myself, it’s shown me that even though someone can take everything from me they will never be able to take my pride and joy of life.