What I thought my life would be like has changed countless times. From being in elementary school thinking I would spend my life skateboarding to being in a pandemic as a freshman having no idea if life would ever go back to normal.
In elementary school I was a quiet kid who didn’t have many friends and spent every day playing sports. Whether it was skateboarding, basketball, football, and everything in between I was always playing sports. Transitioning from elementary school to middle school I knew I didn’t want to be a quiet kid and felt a need for attention and to be a rebel. I never once got in trouble throughout elementary school then going into sixth grade I constantly was going out of my way to be rude to teachers, break rules, be mean to others for attention and thinking that it made me cool. As I started to face the consequences I realized two things, one that I wasn’t built for getting in trouble because when I would get suspended the water works began to run and I knew that cool kids weren’t crying. Two that being mean to people, even if it’s phrased in jokes didn’t make people feel good or enjoy being around you. Middle school was a hard time for everyone. I am just glad that I made a lot of really good friends despite being a punk.
I consider the next period in my life to start in eighth grade once school got moved online. This was a very lonely period and left a lot of time to think about who I wanted to be going into high school. I knew I didn’t want to be mean and wanted to be a social person, even with knowing I wanted to be nicer to those around me I still very much was in a rebellious phase of life doing a lot of things I knew were wrong. I started hanging out with people who weren’t in the right crowd. I love all of my friends from that time period, but they definitely could be considered bad influences. From my freshman year and about halfway through my sophomore year all my life was about hanging out with my friends and getting up to stuff I shouldn’t. I realized through that time that I had no bigger purpose or goal. I have a lot of fond memories from this time but I also look back and think, man was I dumb. Throughout these years I was overweight and very insecure, I always put out a confident face but man I knew looking in the mirror I felt horrible and those insecurities at times made me lash out. I didn’t know what change I needed but I knew something had to change. I started to work out and that completely changed my life.
I am the kind of person where everything I do, I do it at 110% and fully surround myself in it. With good habits and sports this helps me tremendously and with bad habits it hurts me tremendously. All I did for this time period was workout, I tracked every single calorie that went in and every rep completed at the gym. I lost over 60 pounds in four months and felt more confident than I imagined was possible.
What was much more important than the gains or confidence was the newfound purpose and clarity. I understood a lot of my friends held me back and didn’t have any bigger purpose than just to hangout. As I went through this period money was another thing very important to me. I wanted to make as much money as possible and I did not want a boss. I began doing snow removal, landscaping, selling cars, and so many other things to make money without ever clocking in. I learned so much from doing things on my own like this, I had no help and realized the most important step is just trying and getting yourself out there. From the start of this period to the end I was unrecognizable. Through all the money and gains I made from mid-way through my sophomore year to midway through my junior year the most important things were the lessons I learned. At the time all I cared was the money and the gym but with time I have learned life is much more than that.
Midway through my junior year, halfway through the wrestling season, one of the wrestlers on the team reached out to me and said I should just go to one practice. I didn’t realize it at the time but this would be one of the most important decisions I would ever make was just going to one practice. Wrestling has been so important to me. I learned so much, I learned what real hard work was, I learned what it felt like to give something 100% and still lose. I only wrestled for one and half years but I literally gave it my blood sweat and tears. Once my season ended I was hooked on wrestling and spent the entire off-season doing as much as I could to get better at wrestling. After one-and-a-half years I won the regional tournament, and got a ticket to the state championship, as the favorite to win it all. I lost round one and ended up not placing at state, I could write about that event on its own for hours but here I will leave it to wrestling and even losing at state is something I am grateful for. Once I wrestled, the football coaches recruited me to come play, standing at 6’4 260 pounds I had the frame to play. Playing football was incredible, having no previous high school experience I had so much to learn. Luckily the program at Truckee is incredible and set me up perfectly for success and I was able to start at defensive tackle the whole season. We went on to win the state championship and as well keep an undefeated record. I loved my football experience, and the camaraderie in that sport is unmatched anywhere else but wrestling defines who I am as both an athlete and a person. I had an opportunity to play at the next level in both sports but ultimately thought there were more opportunities in the sport of football. This period of my life contrasts a lot of what I believed during the previous years but also doubles down on hard work, grit and determination being super important characteristics that I should carry with me. I learned money isn’t everything, being the best or winning doesn’t define who you are, pride is not everything.
I have written each paragraph as a section of what I consider a period of my life. Originally my plan after high school was to play football at a collegiate level but recently I discovered that my low back has issues and continuing to play could put me at a great risk. I think this period of life that I am currently in started once I learned I couldn’t play football in college. I had to re-evaluate everything, who I am, who I want to be. Sports has been huge for the last two years and now it’s over, at least it is in a sense of being on a team and being told what to do and where to be. At this point in my life, I believe I want to be a real estate agent and sell homes in hopes that my salesmen and entrepreneurial skills will transition into a different market. I know a lot will change in the next year let alone five or 10 years but I would like to believe I am ready for change, willing to accept and roll with the punches.
As I graduate and plan to move on to the next phase of my life, I really want to capitalize on all the lessons I have learned. From being in middle school and being insecure and mean to everyone around me to now having a better understanding of how far being kind goes and having sympathy for those around you and realizing that you do not know what someone’s circumstances are and have empathy. As a freshman in high school I learned the importance of having a bigger purpose and striving to achieve goals, to even all the lessons I learned in the past year.
As I reflect I am grateful for everything. All the struggles. Without struggle, there’s nothing, the wins do not mean anything. I would like to think I made a positive impact in my community and with my friends and family. For anyone in similar shoes to where I was when I was younger I would say take risks, take all the opportunities given to you, try new things, don’t be afraid to do something new or become friends with new people. Your current circumstances are not permanent, and as things change cherish the moments you have and on the flip side if you don’t love where you currently are at things will change, nothing in life will last forever.
Remember everyone is living life for the first time just like you, learn to forgive and give people the benefit of the doubt.