Personal Narrative: I Anticipate In A Football Team

Ever since I can remember, I have tried to be great at everything I do. My mom constantly tells me, "Matthew, you're biting off more than you can chew!" worrying that I might wear myself out. I try to listen to her but I really do enjoy engaging in a great deal of distinct activities outside of school; whether it's marching band, volleyball, academic enrichment or even video games, I constantly participate in competition-based hobbies and take pride in going beyond what is expected of me. This inner drive for competitiveness, I believe, has stemmed from my love for proving people that doubt me wrong and doing what others would say is impossible. I remember specifically throughout my sophomore year that maintaining my trumpet practice habit of at least forty-five minutes everyday was a considerable challenge. With vigorous AP classes to keep up with, combined with volleyball and marching band consuming much of my time, finding the energy to sit down and practice was often a grueling endeavor.
However, my motivation to prove my doubters wrong drove me to constantly seek improvement and never give up. When I talk of these doubters, I don't necessarily mean real life people, but rather those fictional characters constitute my own doubt and trepidation that I won't be able to achieve my goals; my own fear and indecision motivates me to increase my attention to detail and inspires me to achieve my goals. The activity that probably brought out my most competitive self however was volleyball, which by nature, attracts many aggressive and zealous individuals due to the fact that only six people can have starting roles on a team and earning your spot is a essential part of any team.
As a freshman, with previous experience playing volleyball in middle school and at the beach, this essence of competition was very attractive to me and so I tried out and made the junior varsity team. Last year, during my club season, after sitting on the bench for the first part of the year, my coach recognized my improvement and hard work and gave me the starting role for the second half of the season. The little voice in my head telling me "you'll never make it!" or "you're not good enough!" inspired (and continues to inspire) me to persistently improve every aspect of my playing during practice and such an attention to detail, combined with my inner motivation to improve, lead to my
success. My competitive nature has constantly led me to go beyond what is expected and this can also be shown in my leadership role in marching band. Instead of merely participating in band, I knew if I was a leader I could have a positive impact on the trumpet section's development. I did, in fact, and I believe my leadership helped us win first place at last year's Southern California championships. I constantly pushed the trumpets to be the best they can possibly be, and their hard work, as well as mine, was rewarded. I am very proud of the accomplishments that I have earned as a result of my work ethic and attention to detail. Constantly seeking improvement and not letting my inner doubt get in the way has lead to many of my successes in high school and has paved the way for my future.