Respect All Despite Your Opinion by Rachel

Respect All Despite Your Opinion by Rachel - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

High School students often ask the question, “When will I need this in real life?” during math classes using the quadratic formula or even information learned in an American history course. It usually takes many years after high school until a student realizes that beneath a lesson he or she thinks they will never use in real life was a very important lesson that will follow he or she for the rest of his or her life. This type of lesson did not come in the form of a classroom lecture for me, but rather during a soccer practice from my coach and former math teacher.
The most important lesson that he spoke in four years came during my senior soccer season. He said “never burn bridges, because you never know when you might need that person later in life for a favor.” In a story about another coach consistently talking back to referees, my coach stated that the very referee that the other coach was scrutinizing was the head of referees and placed the referees for each game. While the other coach was hurt by his actions, my coach was able to keep his connection with the head of referees earning our team calls that could go either way to either team. This story allowed me to see that even if a person is not favorable toward a subject, always respect his or her opinion, because he or she may help in a favorable decision later. I value this lesson the most, because continuing to the field of business presents many opportunities with connected people. Word can travel fast in a society of social media and internet, so having respectable actions may be crucial to receiving a dream job.
I feel that this is the lesson I will remember for the rest of my life, and although the lesson was not presented in a classroom environment, it is just as important as any math formula my coach taught me. There are many other lessons that I have learned over the years from teachers, but this is the most memorable. I was fortunate enough to realize the importance of my coach’s story immediately compared to other lessons that I may still have to realize and revisit.