Taylor Dunaway

Connie Douglas
UWRT 1101
9/3/2014

This I Believe

I believe that sports help you develop a mentality that nothing else can.
When you play a sport the world seems different to you. Rapidly you can achieve
goals that you have set for yourself. That is something that you cant normally do.
Sports teach you to trust people and to be more trustable. Even if you learn not to
trust anyone when playing sports, you still get a lot of exercise. However sports can
have a negative effect on people. Its up to you to make the right choices when
playing a sport and to benefit yourself. Even if youre not that good, you have still
discovered things about yourself and life than you ever would have without sports.

From personal experience, playing football in high school taught me to push

myself. I went to a school that wasnt known for football. My graduating class only
had 122 people in it. Our school only had one varsity team. This team had a total of
22 players on it. Everyone who tried out got on the team. There were 6 total linemen
on the team. Most games I played Offensive Lineman, Defensive lineman, and long
snapper. I would get a break for three to four plays every game at most. At the end
of my senior season we had only won one game. But I was more than happy with my
season. Randy Pausch once stated, Experience is what you get when you didn't get
what you wanted. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to
offer. (Pausch, The Last Lecture) No our team didnt have a winning season,
however we broke a four-year losing streak. The things I learned playing for

Taylor Dunaway
Connie Douglas
UWRT 1101
9/3/2014

This I Believe

Highland Tech will stick with me, and my mindset will be forever changed. I learned
to keep my head up and keep going no matter how bad things got.

Playing sports taught me to trust people around me and to be a more reliable

person. In a football play, you have to trust ten other people on the field to know
exactly what theyre doing and at the same time you have ten other people
depending on you. Thats a lot of pressure being put on you five days a week. It
teaches you how to deal with stress and meet expectations. Also, the physical
exercise associated with sports is very beneficial for your health. According to JAMA,
The Journal of the American Medical Association, Every US adult should have 30
minutes or more of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, preferably all, days
of the week.(Pate et al.) This is important because daily exercise can put you in a
good mood, boost your confidence, and boost your metabolism. Sports and exercise,
according to Lu Yuanzhen, are the Gods protecting the life quality of humans.
Yuanzhen goes on to say Sports help modern man keep evolving, and remain the
origin and future of human beings. Sports can be used to release the energy that has
been deposited in modern man's body and resist many kinds of illnesses in modern
society. Sports also monitor modern man's mental illness, and play a key role in
developing, competing and adjusting modern man's mentality. Finally, sports make
modern life more harmonious, and are the most positive, effective and the cheapest
ways that not only improves our life patterns, but also helps persons recover from

Taylor Dunaway
Connie Douglas
UWRT 1101
9/3/2014

This I Believe

sub-healthy condition.(Yuanzhen, "Sports-the god protecting the life quality of

human.")

Sports are good for your health and also are a great way to improve your
mentality. When playing a sport you develop time management skills. While playing
football, we had practice four days a week and a game almost every Friday. That
means that I had scarce time to do my work. Most nights I would get home around
8:00; by the time I was ready to start on homework it would be 9:00 already. This
taught me not to waste my time and to take advantage of every break I had
throughout the day. In order to maintain my 4.0 GPA in school while playing football
I had to study early in the morning before school started, and sometimes go and see
the teacher if I had a question on anything in class. Not only did sports teach me to
manage my time, it taught me to keep going no matter how bad things got. While
playing football I got a concussion. I didnt tell my coaches, my parents, or any of my
teachers. It was probably stupid not to tell anyone, but I knew that our small team
couldnt lose another player. Sometimes driving home I would forget how to get
home, and I once got lost in the parking lot of my school trying to find the exit. I had
to work twice as hard in school trying to remember things for tests and assignments
due. Despite this major set back in my season, I still played and maintained my
grades in class.

Taylor Dunaway
Connie Douglas
UWRT 1101
9/3/2014

This I Believe

Overall for me, I have developed a mentality from sports than I feel I never
wouldve gotten anywhere else. That is a never quit on yourself, or your peers. I
believe that sports made me who I am today. I always try my best, and do things
without apathy unlike many college students. When I played football in high school I
lost over 40 pounds. I got in the best shape Id ever been in, and made friends that
will last with me a lifetime. I now get things done when they need to be done, and do
them without complaining. I credit sports for all of these traits that I have acquired.