Personal Reflective Essay: The Football Team
A plethora of memories swarmed my thoughts, like mosquitos under a light as I drove through urban Minneapolis on August 13th. We reached St. Olaf around 9 am, just in time as the first year football players were supposed to move in. I unloaded the items I had from my car and to my surprise all of the upper classmen carried my items to my room on the highest floor of Ytterboe. I entered an unfamiliar space which would be my home for the next three weeks. I unpacked my belongings and socialized with my roommate Jake, also a defensive back (DB) on the football team. He was very friendly and immediately started teaching me the very complex defense we ran. Through the first week, I knew all 80 of the football players by name. Each one of them was very friendly and helpful. As camp progressively grew harder
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The upperclassmen never treated me differently than anyone who had been on the team for multiple years. Secondly, they showed me the power of friendship. One of the terms Coach Stern uses quite frequently is family. By helping me learn the defensive system, to making sure I was mentally healthy, there was never a doubt in my mind my teammates cared about my well being and aspirations. When most people think about family, they think about their extended family with whom they grew up, but through playing football, I have redefined what family truly means. Family is a group of people who persevere through difficulties, help each other succeed to their highest capabilities, and support each other continuously. Even though I have only been a part of the football family for 5 weeks, I feel as if I am a part of a family who meets and exceeds every example of what a family is. My time as part of this football team has been incredible and I am so happy I came to St. Olaf. It would be selfish of me not to acknowledge that if it wasn’t for the opening arms of the football family, I would surely be questioning my decision to come to
The upperclassmen never treated me differently than anyone who had been on the team for multiple years. Secondly, they showed me the power of friendship. One of the terms Coach Stern uses quite frequently is family. By helping me learn the defensive system, to making sure I was mentally healthy, there was never a doubt in my mind my teammates cared about my well being and aspirations. When most people think about family, they think about their extended family with whom they grew up, but through playing football, I have redefined what family truly means. Family is a group of people who persevere through difficulties, help each other succeed to their highest capabilities, and support each other continuously. Even though I have only been a part of the football family for 5 weeks, I feel as if I am a part of a family who meets and exceeds every example of what a family is. My time as part of this football team has been incredible and I am so happy I came to St. Olaf. It would be selfish of me not to acknowledge that if it wasn’t for the opening arms of the football family, I would surely be questioning my decision to come to