Football came along at just the right time. When I was 15, I had suffered a shoulder injury that required surgery and a long recovery and was unable to compete in my spring and summer seasons of baseball. For months my arm was immobilized in a sling. I was recovering and undergoing physical therapy, striving to stay mentally strong, but it was a difficult task. I was really down on myself, believing that I had I had failed myself and my family, and I felt like I had lost my one true passion in my life. It was at that point that I decided to try to find a sport that would not require the use of my arm for a while. My dad took me to a local field to kick footballs for fun. It turned out that I was pretty good at it. So, with no previous experience, I joined the Junior Varsity football team at my high school. Practices were intense, workouts were grueling, and the coaches pushed me harder and harder BUT I loved it. The camaraderie among the players and with the coaches was unlike any I had experienced in any sport in my life. And the pride I felt when hearing the cheers from the crowd and hearing my name being announced was unlike any other feeling I had experienced. I regained my confidence and ended up breaking school records for most touchbacks in a game and for most touchbacks in a season my senior year. But more importantly, football helped shape my character. Football taught me to allow myself to count on others and to show up for other people in my life, working as a team to a common goal. I began to see the bigger picture - that life was not just about me and my needs. I learned the importance of having goals and never stopping until I achieved them, working through pain and working through disappointments and failures. I have learned how to take criticism and bounce back from setbacks. In my short football career which lasted less than two seasons, I grew into a stronger person - both physically and mentally. I finished my senior year strong, with two school football records, a 4.4 gpa, and graduated summa cum laude. My senior year football season was the most rewarding season I had ever experienced, whether it was baseball, soccer, basketball or football. My only regret about football is not starting it sooner.