Experiencing obstacles throughout life can change someone’s view on how they go about different things.  I experienced one of those difficult times when I hurt my shoulder during a football game my junior year of high school.  High school sports are known for pushing athletes to the edge and testing their mental durability.  In my junior year, I faced an extreme amount of adversity.  All aspects of life seemed to be going up, I was growing into a bigger role on the football and basketball team while also maintaining a GPA higher than a 4.0.  Little did I know that a boulder would be thrown in my path.  It was the eighth game of the football season and I was a two-way varsity starter.  On the first drive of the game I got tangled up with an offensive lineman, which led to me falling on my shoulder with his weight and mine.  Immediately I could feel something wrong in my shoulder.  I ran off to the sideline where my school’s athletic trainer and the other school’s doctor suspected I broke my collarbone.  From there my parents took me to the hospital where I waited for an x-ray.  The x-ray brought back good news though, no break but a high AC shoulder joint sprain.  The following week consisted of me falling behind on schoolwork because I had my arm in a sling and couldn’t write or type.  Also my hopes of being able to play in the sectional game seemed bleak and unlikely.  I sat each day at practice watching my team try to fill the void I had left due to my injury.  I came in early and stayed late to try and do everything possible to be out there with my team.  I ended up barely playing in the sectional game and struggled with the injury during basketball.  Shooting, dribbling, physical contact, you name it and the pain was there.  The continual struggle led to me having to rehab through physical therapy.  I missed school, practice, and games which added to my downhill spiral.  

The underlying message from my injury and the struggles I went through is simply “don’t take anything for granted.”  The simplest things in life can be overlooked and not taken seriously.  Ever since my injury I realized this could be my last practice, game, class, etc.  This injury has also caused me to take school more seriously and study harder.  An accident can happen at any time and can throw one’s life in the trash.  Since my injury, I have worked as hard as possible to get back to where I was in class and the weight room.  This has led to an extremely successful senior year.  In my first twelve weeks of my senior year I have already accomplished goals I didn’t believe I could reach before my injury. A few of those goals I’ve achieved are Academic All-Conference, maintaining a 4.0 GPA, and being selected team captain.  My injury has helped me transfer a motivated work ethic into everything I do.   The “don’t take anything for granted” mindset should be taken into everyday activities because nobody ever knows when they will take their last breath.