It is the 4th quarter of the championship football game for my eleven year old travel team. We are up by eight points and back on our own 15 yard line, with two minutes left in the game. At this point, we are running out the clock, hoping they don’t make a big play. I am in at fullback, the center snaps the ball. My quarterback fakes a handoff to me, drawing a defender or two away from him. The opposing team’s linebacker comes up to make the hit on me thinking I have the ball. Little did I know, at that moment, my sports career would change forever.

At eleven years old I tore my ACL for the first time, and that was only the beginning. I have had a string of injuries throughout my sports careers. Some worse than others, but they have all affected who I am today. 

Ever since that championship game, I have had bad luck with injuries. I have had two concussions, an ACL and MCL tear, a broken collarbone, and a dislocated shoulder. All of those injuries are just in my highschool career. They may have been tough to get through, but they have impacted my life in many good and bad ways. The injuries have definitely taken a big toll on my body and affected my mental state of mind. They have also taught me to grit my teeth and power through tough situations.

After going through all of this and experiencing many injuries that most people my age don’t have to go through, it’s easy for me to help others that may end up in the same situation I have been in. I have had multiple boys on my football team ask me what to do when certain things are hurting them or if something feels weird. I won’t always know what to do every time, but the least I could do is help them out with as much as I can. 

My family and doctors have been in my life constantly and they have helped me with more than I can imagine. My goal in life is to help others when they are in tough situations like injuries and or even family problems if they need it. If I have experience with something that they might not know anything about, I want to do all that I can to help them through it. I want to be able to assist someone to persevere and get over the obstacle in their path. I want to show someone that they can do it and that they are stronger than they know.

My life has been a roller coaster of one injury after another, which has made it extremely tough to get through at times. I want to do all that I can to help others get through their tough times and show that not everything is as bad as it may seem.