Artifacts Essay
How Gymnastics Influenced My Life
In “Rebel Music”, Daniel Felsenfeld delves into the inspirations he has drawn from music in his childhood. He tells of the struggles he experienced and the lack of inspiration from mandatory piano lessons from Ms. Shimizu. Although he dazzled her every time, he never felt connected to the music. Felsenfeld reminisced, “I was experiencing a personal drought, an acrid lack of culture of all kinds, especially music” (Felsenfeld 624). After he heard Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony while with a friend, he had an epiphany. He felt that in this moment, he heard music for the first time. From then on, he became obsessed and revolved his entire life around it. He then went on to become a composer despite his non-musical family background. Felsenfeld’s passion for music as a child encouraged him to be the person he is today, which is similar to the way gymnastics influenced my life. Gymnastics was a huge part of my life growing up, and I realize now that the sport allowed me to learn the valuable traits I use today. Being a gymnast taught me many things but especially how to be dedicated, how to be a team player and how to never give up.
To begin, being a gymnast when I was younger taught me how to be dedicated. When I was a child, I would spend five hours, five days a week training in the gym. Although I was only in middle school, I was taught that practice was the only way to be successful. My day was planned out to the minute and it was to be strictly followed. I would wake up in the morning, eat breakfast and head to school. When school was over, my mother would drive me to the gym and I would have exactly two hours to do homework. At four o’clock, practice started and did not end until nine p.m. I would then eat dinner and go to bed. The next morning, it would start all over again. Although I practiced year round, competition season was always the most grueling. Practice got harder and we had to be even more devoted during this time. Even
In “Rebel Music”, Daniel Felsenfeld delves into the inspirations he has drawn from music in his childhood. He tells of the struggles he experienced and the lack of inspiration from mandatory piano lessons from Ms. Shimizu. Although he dazzled her every time, he never felt connected to the music. Felsenfeld reminisced, “I was experiencing a personal drought, an acrid lack of culture of all kinds, especially music” (Felsenfeld 624). After he heard Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony while with a friend, he had an epiphany. He felt that in this moment, he heard music for the first time. From then on, he became obsessed and revolved his entire life around it. He then went on to become a composer despite his non-musical family background. Felsenfeld’s passion for music as a child encouraged him to be the person he is today, which is similar to the way gymnastics influenced my life. Gymnastics was a huge part of my life growing up, and I realize now that the sport allowed me to learn the valuable traits I use today. Being a gymnast taught me many things but especially how to be dedicated, how to be a team player and how to never give up.
To begin, being a gymnast when I was younger taught me how to be dedicated. When I was a child, I would spend five hours, five days a week training in the gym. Although I was only in middle school, I was taught that practice was the only way to be successful. My day was planned out to the minute and it was to be strictly followed. I would wake up in the morning, eat breakfast and head to school. When school was over, my mother would drive me to the gym and I would have exactly two hours to do homework. At four o’clock, practice started and did not end until nine p.m. I would then eat dinner and go to bed. The next morning, it would start all over again. Although I practiced year round, competition season was always the most grueling. Practice got harder and we had to be even more devoted during this time. Even
Cited: Felsenfeld, Daniel. “Rebel Music.” The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings. Richard Bullock and Maureen Daly Goggin. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2006. 624-27. Print.