My daughter wrote this for her English paper... So very proud of her. Megan Schwindler Mr. Schmelze English Composition 9 September 2013 When life gives you lemons… On May 1st, 2012 I was told I had to get surgery on my shoulder, it was a rough day for me, for my whole family. I had dreamed of playing collegiate softball and when I was told that I would be out for a year and a half, I was stunned. I had felt like that dream, which was right on the tip of my fingertips, just shot up into the air. Unreachable. When I first found out I was pissed. Beyond pissed actually, I was livid. Why did this have to happen to me? What did I do? The rain was pouring pretty heavily that day and all I could hear was the thump, thump, thump of big, fat raindrops hitting my car. I wondered what it would be like to be one of those raindrops, just relaxing in a big puffy cloud, and all of sudden free falling. At first I bet it’d be fun, and then it’d get real scary at the end, knowing I was about to hit the bottom and disappear forever. Life is kind of like that I suppose; as teenagers our big puffy cloud is our parents, and one day we’ll be free-falling and have no one to catch us. I felt like a raindrop that day, like my big puffy cloud had disappeared and I would be free falling with that sick feeling in my stomach forever. Surgery day was planned for May 28th, 2013. The days leading up to the surgery were not as fun as I had hoped. Every little thing I’d do, whether it be making a sandwich or doing push-ups I realized I would not be able to do for another year. The last two days before my surgery I was an emotional Schwindler 2 wreck; I was dejected that I had to get surgery and resentful because I couldn’t play, and so I did what every hormonal teenager would do; I ate my sorrows away. I ate Chipotle and Red Robin, and shoot, I even got a steak dinner. That part wasn’t so bad I suppose. I don’t remember anything from the surgery, but I do know that when I woke up, I felt absolutely amazing. Apparently they had put a pain block on my arm so the next two hours; I would feel little to no pain, so I decided to go back to school and take my Spanish final. All bandaged and drugged up, I figured that if I showed my teachers that I really do care about school they’d respect me and that’s all I really want from a teacher. That’s all most kids want honestly, all of the teachers that are the “favorites” are always making personable connections with their students and respecting them, not treating them like a five year old. I wanted that respect, and I learned that I wasn’t just going to get it by showing up to class every day; I’d have to do a little something extra, I’d have to work a little bit harder than everyone else. The look on Mrs. Laws face when I showed up for fifth hour was priceless. My shoulder was a throbbing, and the painkillers made it a little hard to focus, but I was proud of myself for pushing past the pain. I have learned to become mentally tough, and it has come in handy a multitude of times. For my first day of Rehab I was nervous; my shoulder was basically immobile, or at least I thought so anyway. They stretched and bent and pulled and tugged my shoulder to no end, and let me tell you, it did not feel good. At all. You know that phrase, “grin and bear it”? Well I did a lot of that. Almost everything I did at physical therapy hurt. Hurt my arm physically, and hurt me emotionally. I felt so helpless those first couple months; I couldn’t hold a ten pound ball, I couldn’t prop myself up, I couldn’t even wave my arm. I was drowning in self pity. And then I realized something. Instead of feeling sorry for myself, and focusing on all the things I couldn’t do, why not start focusing on what I could do. Schwindler 3 I changed my entire outlook on rehab just like that. I learned that being negative and pitying myself wasn’t going to get me anywhere. I learned to be positive, smile more and think happy thoughts; I was amazed at how much that affected the situation I was in. Now don’t get me wrong, I still worked hard. I worked my butt off actually. Every day after school, for an hour and half I worked my arm till it hurt to even think about moving it. I was determined to get back to the game, and I was working so hard to get back, not for my family, not for my coaches, not even for me, but for the love of the game, I respected and loved the game too much to give up on it now. I had dreamed of playing collegiate softball all my life and I wasn’t about to throw it away because of some stupid surgery. I was stronger than that; I was mentally tough, and I knew I could overcome anything that was put in my way. I’ve applied that will to succeed and the ability to overcome adversity all throughout my life, in other sports, relationships and even school. Now, I have a scholarship to play softball at Rockhurst University, I plan on majoring in Secondary Education, English. I couldn’t be happier I got surgery; it was a blessing in disguise. I basically was given a fresh start physically and mentally, I learned how to become mentally tough, how to work hard, how to overcome adversity, and most importantly I learned that there is always an easy way out, and to never succumb to the doubts I have; the easy way is never the best way, if I work hard for everything I do I’ll not only become successful, I will know that with every obstacle I face, with each adversity that tries to overwhelm me and drag me down, I will overcome it. I just have to be positive, work hard, and when I face adversity, punch him and kick him and knock him to the ground, because nothing can stop me from accomplishing my goals. Nothing. (1,095 words)
Posted on: Wed, 25 Sep 2013 04:53:46 +0000
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