dpearly
05-03-2005, 10:52 AM
I just have to share this with everyone....i apologize for the length, but please read.
My friend and co-worker has 2 teenage children. his son was just accepted to VA-Tech on football and academic scholarship. one of the conditions is to write numerous essays.....here is one of them....
I THOUGHT I KNEW WHAT TOUGH WAS…
If asked to write this essay six months ago, the content would be completely different than it is today. I thought I knew what facing challenges, overcoming adversity and ultimately succeeding was all about. I thought I knew what tough was….
I am considered an “athlete”. From the time I could walk, all I wanted to do was play sports. My life revolved around sports. I participated and excelled in all the team sports available to me including baseball, football and basketball. Although, I was not the biggest or strongest kid around, my desire to succeed made my stature inconsequential.
In the fall of my 8th grade year, while playing football, I tore my left knee ACL. I did finish the game in pain and even threw a touchdown in the closing minutes of the game for the win. Due to my young age and the tear being partial, the surgeon performed the operation and I was forced to sit out the remainder of the football season along with the first ½ of basketball. I was crushed but faithfully attended my rehab sessions and built the knee’s strength back up. I thought I knew what tough was…
Then, in my junior year of high school, I suffered another blow to the knee during a varsity football game. This time, the diagnosis was a complete tear of the right ACL. Complete reconstruction surgery was necessary and scheduled on my seventeenth birthday. My transformation was shifting gears from football, basketball and baseball to rehab, rehab, and more rehab. While my teammates were playing in the regional championship game, I was going to physical therapy 6 days a week for 14 long weeks. But I realized that I had to take my rehab seriously or I would be a spectator my senior year. My hard work and determination paid off. In baseball, I was named to the Virginia All-State First Team Outfielder my junior year. And, my senior year, I broke 23 school records for football and was the District Offensive Player of the Year. I thought I knew what tough was….
My life changed dramatically on August 16, 2004. My sixteen year old sister, Megan was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare childhood bone cancer. My priorities quickly changed from pass completions and touchdowns to chemotherapy and survival rates. Sports took a back seat to bone scans and blood counts. My sister was challenged with several rounds of chemotherapy, a complete knee and femur replacement and several more rounds of chemotherapy to come. Megan is learning to walk again and her bone scan has come back clear with no signs of cancer. To watch my sister face cancer and its’ consequences with determination and strength is incredible. Her positive outlook is an inspiration to all whom she encounters.
Now, I KNOW what tough is…..my sister Meg!
In this day and age, when the children seem to be so out of control, it is great to see that some parents have a legacy to be proud of. my hat goes off to all of you parents with children even close to this.
thx for reading
Denise
My friend and co-worker has 2 teenage children. his son was just accepted to VA-Tech on football and academic scholarship. one of the conditions is to write numerous essays.....here is one of them....
I THOUGHT I KNEW WHAT TOUGH WAS…
If asked to write this essay six months ago, the content would be completely different than it is today. I thought I knew what facing challenges, overcoming adversity and ultimately succeeding was all about. I thought I knew what tough was….
I am considered an “athlete”. From the time I could walk, all I wanted to do was play sports. My life revolved around sports. I participated and excelled in all the team sports available to me including baseball, football and basketball. Although, I was not the biggest or strongest kid around, my desire to succeed made my stature inconsequential.
In the fall of my 8th grade year, while playing football, I tore my left knee ACL. I did finish the game in pain and even threw a touchdown in the closing minutes of the game for the win. Due to my young age and the tear being partial, the surgeon performed the operation and I was forced to sit out the remainder of the football season along with the first ½ of basketball. I was crushed but faithfully attended my rehab sessions and built the knee’s strength back up. I thought I knew what tough was…
Then, in my junior year of high school, I suffered another blow to the knee during a varsity football game. This time, the diagnosis was a complete tear of the right ACL. Complete reconstruction surgery was necessary and scheduled on my seventeenth birthday. My transformation was shifting gears from football, basketball and baseball to rehab, rehab, and more rehab. While my teammates were playing in the regional championship game, I was going to physical therapy 6 days a week for 14 long weeks. But I realized that I had to take my rehab seriously or I would be a spectator my senior year. My hard work and determination paid off. In baseball, I was named to the Virginia All-State First Team Outfielder my junior year. And, my senior year, I broke 23 school records for football and was the District Offensive Player of the Year. I thought I knew what tough was….
My life changed dramatically on August 16, 2004. My sixteen year old sister, Megan was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare childhood bone cancer. My priorities quickly changed from pass completions and touchdowns to chemotherapy and survival rates. Sports took a back seat to bone scans and blood counts. My sister was challenged with several rounds of chemotherapy, a complete knee and femur replacement and several more rounds of chemotherapy to come. Megan is learning to walk again and her bone scan has come back clear with no signs of cancer. To watch my sister face cancer and its’ consequences with determination and strength is incredible. Her positive outlook is an inspiration to all whom she encounters.
Now, I KNOW what tough is…..my sister Meg!
In this day and age, when the children seem to be so out of control, it is great to see that some parents have a legacy to be proud of. my hat goes off to all of you parents with children even close to this.
thx for reading
Denise