I think it is a bit too long.(992 words) Plz revise...and thank you in advance.:]
How did I get caught?
"Oh, my goodness, look at how they serve! How weird! "
"Well, weird but intense."
"We're gonna be so screwed..."
That was the first few words I could hear in my head as the game started. I was too shocked and
worried to listen to people around. The team cheers for those violet Cascades, and they were loud
enough, almost made me deaf. All I had in mind was the score, decided by the judge. The violet
Team was scoring one after another, and there were no difficulties.
I fell into a sound sleep and dreamt that I was back in August, 2008, at the first volleyball practice we held. The sounds of balls bumping against wrists, palms, floor, made me frightened. I couldn't have felt more uncomfortable, but when I was dragged downward onto the serving line by Alex. I tried to serve a ball, but it was not as easy as he showed me. The ball bounced into the net and dropped to the floor. What was more depressing was that I found a big bruise on my arm with many little blood-red dots under my skin. I wanted to tell others about it, and it seemed that they've all had this sort of pain in the very beginning. I said nothing more, but held my tears back in and practiced serving once, twice...That was my 3rd week in the USA, and I've never been involved in formal sports training before. I started being on Junior Varsity as a volleyball player, by that time, I never thought I could do it without tasting such bitterness, with the unwillingness and worry.
In the first 2 months, I learned the basic volleyball skills, such as serving, setting, spiking, etc. My arms and knees were always bruised. I had to apply icepack on them so I would be able to continue practice the next day. Then the game season started! In the first several games, I spent most of my time sitting on the bench, even in JV games. I got to play once in awhile, and got substituted other times. I didn't like what I was doing, since I thought once I was on a team, I should have the right to play. So one day I went to the captain and asked about why I didn't get to play and why I was put on JV. All I got as reply was: "You didn't seem much into the team and you had no interest in volleyball. We decided to put you on JV so that you get to learn more about how to play." Suddenly I felt embarrassed, like my face was burning up and I wish I could have never asked such a question. I was so obvious that I had no skills permitting me to be on the Varsity team. After this talk, I made up my mind. I clearly knew that I'd be on Varsity only if I practice hard, harder than others, in order to fetch up my "no basis".
Hard work paid off. The other day during practice, I was surprised that I got almost every ball that came to the front. Our coach cheered, everybody was saying "Good job!" to me. The very moment I knew I made it. And I was grateful, for my host brother Alex insisted that I shouldn't back out. I got caught being frightened when I was facing something new and challenging. It wasn't like me to get lost in a jungle. I cried out, tried everywhere and eventually got out. Nothing felt better than the first sunlight shining upon me, just like the cheers from my friends and coach. I thought I couldn't do it, but without trying, I'd never know. Then I was told that there will be volleyball games in a student convention. So I signed up for it. With other girls, I formally became a member of our school team, set off for the convention after one and a half months' practice.
I was awoken by the coach, being told that it was time for a warm-up. With the numbness from thinking back and the shock I had earlier, I held the ball by the line, feeling motionless. The captain came and tapped my shoulder as she noticed that something was wrong with me. "No worries, the girl who spikes will be graduated next year! She joked a little bit, which brought me back to awareness. "This is my only year here!" I told myself, responding her with nodding. I started setting a ball, warming up myself before the game starts.
Soon we did experience what we predicted. We got quite behind on score and it was going to destroy us, if our opponent was able to keep it up. After a time-out, I was rotated to the serving spot. I clearly felt my hands trembling when I picked up the ball on the floor. I served, and I thought I may have missed it. Instead, no body called "short". When I heard my name echoing in the gym, I couldn't have believed it! I repeated it for another 3 times, like a robot. What happened was continuous. "I scored". After this the Cascades had their full attention, and started getting back at us. Although another few points later, we lost our fist round. My scoring in time guaranteed that we got to have another 2 rounds. Sadly it didn't help save us from losing. At the end of the game, I looked up at the score board, and then let out a long breath. I realized that winning or loss maybe matters, but the more I worry about it, the more it affects my performance. Contrary to that, when I was serving, all I needed to do was focus, and think of my best possible serve. This made me score more. As the song <Happy> sings, "The only enemy I am trying to beat is hiding in me." If life itself is fearless, then who can be against it?
