Educational Institution
NARRATIVE ESSAY 2
Abstract
A time that I overcame a great obstacle in my life was when I sprained my ankle in the summer of 2011. It happened while I was playing basketball at one of the most important games of the season. I sprained my ankle while playing the second last game of the regular season which is the game before the most important game. My team and I had a great chance of winning the game, and ultimately a perfect opportunity of winning the championship.
NARRATIVE ESSAY 3
Spraining my ankle in the summer of 2011 was devastating for me and required me to learn many new traits. It had such a big impact on my life, and all right before one of the most important games of the basketball season. After the ankle sprain, I was mixed with many emotions, including anger, frustration and sadness. Since I could not play basketball, I figured that I would just sit on the side lines and feel sorry for myself, but as it turned out, that was not the way things would end up. I would get an entire new appreciation for my team and learn about trust in the process.
One day I was sitting at home and I started to reflect about how sitting on the sideline was very difficult for me and how hard of an adaption period it was. I knew that I would have to trust my teammates to win the game, and that idea was hard to grasp. It was a new feeling for me to trust someone. I didn’t know what to make of it. It was difficult for me, knowing that I could not assist the team, or score any points in this game. I still had to trust my team to win.
Being one of the starters on the basketball team, I was mentally destroyed as I was not able to play in this crucial game. This game was very important because it was the last game before the play offs and our team would drop one place in the rankings without a win. In regards to the injury, the moment I stepped on my opponent’s foot and sprained my ankle, I knew it was going to be bad. My mind was like ‘please no, not nowbad timing’ and even though we were dominating the game, I could see a look of worry appear on my coach’s and teammates’ faces. I was able to complete the game, and we won, but I was disappointed by my actions, I thought I could have been more careful. I had put so much pressure on myself as a basketball starter that when I got injured, I did not know how to cope.
NARRATIVE ESSAY 4
I had a lot of pity for myself and had gotten so upset that I went to my coach and talked with him for almost two hours. I needed to vent but also needed a lot of encouragement. My coach convinced me to believe in the team and to trust my teammates. My coach stressed the notion of team, and how as a team everyone had to work together in order to complete a goal. In our case, it was to win enough games to make the championship game. There was one sentence from my coach that was very touching. He said, “The moment you joined this team, you were one of my family. We win together and lose together; you have to trust the rest of your family members.” My coach played basketball in high school and college, so I knew that he had some experience with the game, the physical and emotional side. He mentioned that he knew what it felt like to be absent for a big anticipated game, and that everything would work out fine. My coach also told me to not put too much pressure on myself, and that I had to take care of myself in order for my sprain to heal properly.
After speaking with my coach, I ended up getting through a major obstacle and overcame my trust issues. I took heed to his words and learned that I could get through this injury with a positive mind and trust my team to win the game. I then began to show support for my team. Putting trust in my teammates and knowing we were all on one accord felt great. I saw that they were working hard to achieve a gold medal, and that motivated me. So at the game, I began to encourage my fellow players. I was sitting on the bench watching the team playing and hoping that I could be a part of the game, and then I realized that I could. I began to yell, motivate
NARRATIVE ESSAY 5
my teammates and give positive thinking for my teammates. We were down five points at half time; our coach did not give any additional instructions for the game but instead gave a long speech about how we got here, and how we were just two steps away to reach our goal. As a team, we knew what to do to win, as we had been working together for years. After the speech by my coach, my teammates began believing in themselves, making better plays, and they overcame some fitness and exhaustion problems to win the game by three points. We were now two games away from playing in the championship game.
Spraining my ankle was not something I wished for, but in the process, I learned so much from the experience. It was an obstacle to an important basketball tournament, but it was needful as well. I have learned to trust my teammates more than ever before. It was a different kind of trust. It was more of a tacit trust because with tacit trust it is difficult to transfer knowledge to someone, because the skills learned are explicit. Because I had this trust with my teammates and we all knew the plays and calls of the game, I was able to trust that they would perform what practiced, and that they would do their best to win the game.
I also learned that I cannot put too much pressure on myself and that being in a team environment meant that everyone had to participate. I was able to assist my team with motivation and cheers during the game, and it made a huge impact. I also learned that you could still encourage and support your team, even if you are not able to physically. I stayed off my ankle and rested when appropriate and it healed right before the championship game. I was able to participate in the championship finals. We won the championship together as a team and we obtained the gold medal.