Undergraduate /
Is it OK to point out that you are not a good student because of other pursuits? [7]
Very Rough First Draft with No Conclusion--Am i going in the right direction?
Thanks
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I am a competitive tennis player; I have been playing in tournaments since I was 8 years old. One of my earliest memories is that of my grandfather throwing wiffle balls at me while I batted them non-stop with a small plastic bat, I could barely stand and he would play with me for what seemed like hours on end. I was so fortunate to have someone spend the time with me to help develop my hand-eye coordination at such a young age. By the time I was 4 years old, he had me out on the tennis court hitting balls with a wooden tennis racquet that was bigger than I was. Then sadly, my grandfather died but he instilled in me the love of sport and competition, he truly inspired me to continue to pursue my dream of being a tennis player.
Since then, I have spent thousands of hours training and playing in tournaments, I spend most weekends traveling to tennis tournaments, not a day goes by when I don't think of how proud my grandfather would be of my accomplishments. I have worked very hard to get where I am, sometime to the detriment of friends and family but my aspirations have brought me where I am today. My parents have supported me in this endeavor and allowed for me to train and travel despite the sacrifice to our family, I am truly grateful for this opportunity.
The confidence I have developed through sports has helped me in other aspects of my life. While in first semester 10th grade, I was in an independent study program, living away from home at a tennis academy and traveling extensively. Among the courses I was taking were Algebra 2 and Chemistry, I thought I was doing OK but I had never received any grades so I was not sure how I was doing until I decided to go back to regular school in the second semester. It because apparent that these courses were not ones which someone could not teach themselves and I ended up barely passing one and failing the other. Instead of being dejected I pulled from my confidence I learned on the tennis court and I made it a mission to improve those grades the next school year. Not only did I get A's and B's when I repeated these courses but I developed a true passion for Chemistry, I am now enrolled in AP Chemistry and hope to major in Chemistry in college.
