Undergraduate /
Common App Essay: Either obstacle to overcome or Other [4]
Heres my essay not done yet but was thinking of shaping this into overcoming an obstacle.
Rabbit 10I jumped in the pool and began my warm-up set along side my teammates. As we finished the first rep, I heard the coach say, "Will, I need to talk to you for a second". This drew a chorus of "ooh"s from my friends. I hopped out of the pool knowing exactly why the coach was angry with me.
As the youngest child in my family I have been influenced by my 3 older siblings. All had great success in swimming at the national level, and at age 6, I felt the pressure to become a good swimmer.
I joined the team thinking I was similarly skilled at competitive swimming. Four years of daily practice and long swim meets later, I began to realize that this was not the case. My friends had been moved up to the next level, the "Gold" team, while I was still stuck on the "Maroon" team. When I asked the coach what I could do to improve, he told me to just keep working. I made sure to attend every practice I could and even joined the water polo team to improve my swimming my skills. Unfortunately, I did not see any significant improvements in my times. I had been on the "Maroon" team for almost six years, and decided to ask the coach again if I was to be moved up. When he told me that he was sure I would be, I was relieved. I had begun to turn over in my mind how swimming was not fun anymore. However, I figured this new level would spark my interest again.
As the next season drew near, I went on the team website and looked up my team assignment. "Maroon"! I was stuck on the same squad again. Now I really questioned my abilities in swimming but I refused to give up. Maybe all I needed is a new coach. I started swimming at a different club and even though I never missed a practice, I still finished last in race after race. As my dislike for swimming began to grow I understood that I wasn't like my brothers and sisters. I asked myself, "Why am still swimming?" It was time to try something new. I decided to start playing football while still swimming.
It was not long after I started football that I began to dread every practice I had to spend in the water. The monotonous drone of my strokes splashing in the water and the endless repetition of identical laps was unbearable. In contrast football's practices were challenging and interesting. Even the most basic drills in football were more enjoyable than swimming. After I tackled someone in football or blocked them for our running back I had a sense of accomplishment, yet after I finished a lap in swimming, all I did was dread the next one. In swim meets I waited 4 hours to swim for 10 minutes. Football games were much more exciting. Not only was there continuous action but the eleven on the field depended upon each other for success. Take for example the pre-play sequence for my position at center.
From somewhere behind me I hear, "Ace, Rabbit ten" my eyes shift to the armband. The number ten under the rabbit column reveals that the play is "Stretch Lt" I glance forward and call out the defensive scheme and my line's responsibilities "3-3 Stack, Mike 42, Mike 51" i make quick check of the man in front of me. I quickly look back for the quarterback's hand signal and prepare my self. "Set... Hit!" and the play begins.
In swimming it was just I swimming against everyone else, there was little team unity. When the swimming coach confronted me about missing so many practices I told him I was at football. He became upset that I was doing another sport. "Swimmers were supposed to be swimmers year-round" he said. That afternoon i understood that I had to make a choice between the two sports. On one hand I had a sport that all my siblings did and a lot of my friends too, but in the other I had a new sport that I enjoyed and was actually half-way decent at.
So one day instead of snapping goggles on I was snapping a football to the quarterback. Football became my main sport not because my siblings had done it or because I was amazing at it, I play football because I love it. I felt I should play a sport I liked, regardless of my siblings accomplishments. I love football not just because of the action and enjoyment but also because, as a center, I can be a leader on the football field without necessarily being best player out there.
Although I have been able to play football in high school I know now that this will be my last season. Though I will miss the excitement and enjoyment I got from playing, I am sure I will find new sports just like I did after swimming. Who knows, maybe I'll even find something that I love as much as football.
