My Life Outside of Education
Zac Green
Sports have played an essential role in my life since I was about 5 years old. I have
played my fair share of sports including: football, basketball, soccer, baseball, and lacrosse.
Whether I was playing in the backyard against my two little brothers, or I was taking on the turf
with my teammates in a varsity football game, I have learned so many valuable lessons from
playing sports throughout my life. I believe that sports have made me the hardworking,
responsible, and confident young man that I am today.
Everyone faces hardships during their athletic career, some maybe more than others. I
was a late bloomer, which I later learned is not such a bad thing. The fact I was a late bloomer
did make middle school tough; a lot of the other kids were a lot more athletic than I was at the
time. Throughout middle school, I was cut from the basketball team in both seventh and eighth
grade, and also from a travel team that I tried out for. I would have done anything to play for
these teams, but there were just other kids that were better than me due to the natural talent
that comes along with being bigger and stronger. At the time, I thought this was the worst thing
that could have happened to me. I did not realize that getting cut from those teams would make
me work harder than I had ever worked before. The reason I worked so hard, and still work so
hard is because I do not want to feel that disappointment again. I do everything in my power
every single day to improve my technique and to become stronger. As of today, I made the high
school football and basketball teams, and I play competitive AAU basketball. This is a complete
turn around from where I was three years ago. These accomplishments are a clear result of my
diligence and determination after being cut from teams in middle school. I deserve to be on
these teams and play these sports everyday because I am persistent and dedicated. Another
time I faced hardship was junior year of my football season. I did not earn a starting spot this
year because I lacked the strength to start compared to other players of the same position,
offensive tackle. This served as motivation for me to increase my strength in order to win a
starting position in the future. During every practice of my junior season, I worked as hard as I
possibly could to impress my coaches and better my abilities. Now that the season is over, I am
working even harder to reach my goal of improving myself. Every single day I workout to get
stronger, so I can fight for that starting spot on the team. This hard work on the field and the
court is the exact same work I put forth in the classroom. I do everything I can so I can succeed
in school and have a bright future.
Sports are a very time consuming activity that require a lot of effort. Currently, I have
football lifting six days a week and I have basketball practice two days a week, in addition to
school and a social life. This does not allow me to have very much free time. Because of this, I
have to be extremely efficient with time management, which is a skill I am proud to have. I have
to be able to plan up to a week ahead and work around all of my liftings and practices in order to
get school work and other things done. To keep my responsibilities organized, I like to write
down all of my assignments and the nights of the week that I plan to complete them. This keeps
me organized and allows me to get everything done before I have to go to practice. I strongly
believe that this one of the most beneficial skills that I have gained from playing sports
throughout my life. Sports have taught me to be delegate my time for different responsibilities,
which is an important skill that will carry into college. I also take pride in the jersey that I wear,
no matter what team it is for. Whether it is on friday nights in the jaguar football jersey, or if it is
on the weekends in an AAU tournament, I am always ready to support my team. Sports have
given me the confidence that I lacked when I was younger. Playing varsity football or
competitive AAU basketball is not something everyone can do or handle. It takes confidence in
your ability to be able to compete at this level, and I am proud to say that I developed this
confidence throughout years of hard work and practice.
Sports have molded me into the person that I am today and I am so thankful that I had
the opportunity to play them. Without sports in my life, I would have a lot of free time and I would
not know what to do with it. I would definitely not be as healthy or confident as I am if I had
never started playing sports. My teammates have played an important role in making me more
skilled at sports. I would not have half the friends I have now without sports. Football has
allowed me to have many close friends that are like family, as well as my AAU basketball team.
Overall, sports have had a positive impact on my life and are the reason I am who I am today.
