Literacy Narrative: How Wrestling Affected My Life
Isaiah Branch
English 1101
1/26/2013 Literacy Narrative
As a result of most of my family being athletes, I was pretty much destined to carry on the torch in the world of sports. Wrestling took me by storm early at an early age and continued to grow on me throughout my teenage years. The topic that I want to express to readers is that of how wrestling affected my life. Through my childhood, maybe from the ages of 7 to 8, I was told that I should participate in a sport. My mother was a great track runner in her younger days, while my father was a great basketball player in his. I was not impressed with track at all, nor did I want to play basketball. Although I enjoyed watching basketball, I was never really good at it. One day
my cousin came to me and bragged about how he had won a state championship in wrestling his junior year. We were always competitive and I had to be greater than him so I decided to take up wrestling. As I took a further look at the technicalities of wrestling, I became very impressed. I was about 8 or 9 years old when I joined wrestling. It was not as easy as it looked. I'll never forget the first day of practice when I got dominated and felt like I didn't belong there. My cousin told me that it takes more than just muscles, but also takes the skills to think and know when to maneuver the right level of self control. I took the advice that he gave me and applied it to wrestling and also to the everyday adversity that I face in life. As I continued wrestling in my adolescence years, I grew to love the sport. In high school, wrestling was more than a sport to me. I lived, breathed, and sweated wrestling. I always made time after my homework to study certain moves and also watch footage on my opponents. You could perhaps call me a “mat freak” or a super fan. I was never really cocky but rather humbled that I got to enjoy myself in such a positive manner. My experiences from wrestling helped me to apply some strong attributes to my everyday life such as overcoming adversity and also pushing people around me to do better. I was able to manage my time extremely well and keep up with my work to perfection. When I had trouble with anything emotionally, I was able to center my conscience and bring myself back on top. Being involved in wrestling has taught me some important things in life that I will continue to use to help me reach greater heights further on in life.
English 1101
1/26/2013 Literacy Narrative
As a result of most of my family being athletes, I was pretty much destined to carry on the torch in the world of sports. Wrestling took me by storm early at an early age and continued to grow on me throughout my teenage years. The topic that I want to express to readers is that of how wrestling affected my life. Through my childhood, maybe from the ages of 7 to 8, I was told that I should participate in a sport. My mother was a great track runner in her younger days, while my father was a great basketball player in his. I was not impressed with track at all, nor did I want to play basketball. Although I enjoyed watching basketball, I was never really good at it. One day
my cousin came to me and bragged about how he had won a state championship in wrestling his junior year. We were always competitive and I had to be greater than him so I decided to take up wrestling. As I took a further look at the technicalities of wrestling, I became very impressed. I was about 8 or 9 years old when I joined wrestling. It was not as easy as it looked. I'll never forget the first day of practice when I got dominated and felt like I didn't belong there. My cousin told me that it takes more than just muscles, but also takes the skills to think and know when to maneuver the right level of self control. I took the advice that he gave me and applied it to wrestling and also to the everyday adversity that I face in life. As I continued wrestling in my adolescence years, I grew to love the sport. In high school, wrestling was more than a sport to me. I lived, breathed, and sweated wrestling. I always made time after my homework to study certain moves and also watch footage on my opponents. You could perhaps call me a “mat freak” or a super fan. I was never really cocky but rather humbled that I got to enjoy myself in such a positive manner. My experiences from wrestling helped me to apply some strong attributes to my everyday life such as overcoming adversity and also pushing people around me to do better. I was able to manage my time extremely well and keep up with my work to perfection. When I had trouble with anything emotionally, I was able to center my conscience and bring myself back on top. Being involved in wrestling has taught me some important things in life that I will continue to use to help me reach greater heights further on in life.