alivia yates

Growing up, I always enjoyed soccer. Looking back, I believe it’s a right of passage through childhood to play in a little league. There was a specific, childlike joy that I found in kicking a soccer ball and running until my legs went numb. This same joy lasted into my early teen years. I was finally playing to win and not just playing for fun. I liked the competition, it’s what inspired me to train harder and be better. Unfortunately for me, my competitors were also getting stronger, faster, more aggressive, and ultimately became better players than me. As I reached my junior year of high school, I had to learn the hard fact: soccer was not going to follow me into college. All of the years prior that included me playing on little league teams, playing for indoor teams, and playing for the varsity team in high school, turned into things I was soon going to have to leave behind. I was stuck, wondering what else I could put my time into. With the dramatic realization of “all good things must come to an end,” I neededto find something that I could enjoy, was good at, and would last.

It was time to find a new, enjoyable hobby, hopefully something that could carry me into college. I even tried musical options, such as guitar or piano. I tried cross country and track, both were too tiring. Against my wishes, I tried reading. I enjoyed it at first, but quickly got bored of it. In the same direction of reading, I thought maybe, just maybe, I enjoy writing. However, I thought reading and writing go together like a soccer ball and a goal. If I stopped reading, how was I enjoying writing?

Soon into my focus on writing, I realized how much I enjoyed the writing process. I always attributed it to the fact that I talk a lot, so writing gave me the ability to put all of my thoughts on paper. There was a worry with writing, though, would this be a lasting hobby? Regardless, with objective grading and peer reviews brought in English 1102, I realized that I had the ability to write and actually enjoyed it.