Pride Essay

Pride is something that all people should have, and it can he held over many

different things. It can be for grades, sports, wealth or whatever someone chooses to

have it over. There are a few things in my life that I have great pride for, and the

greatest thing for me personally so far would be getting placed on first-team for football

in my conference. It was a very long journey to get to that point and I dedicated four

years of my life to the sport, and it led up to earning that reward. I hold great pride over

that and am proud of myself for it.

I had never played football before freshman year, and wasn’t sure if I would

continue playing it after that year. There wasn’t any real reason for me even getting into

the sport, I just decided that I would join the team to try it out. Freshman year I played

offense and didn’t really make any difference on a team that went 0-10. By sophomore

year I had began playing defense, and my coaches rewarded me with lineman of the

year for our JV team as we went 5-5. Junior year I played only defense, and became a

varsity starter. Our team had talent but we struggled to get wins, going 4-6. However

senior year, everything went right for our team and we all played very well, going 10-0. I

started all year and was moved all around the defensive line, getting put wherever I was

needed. By the time the season was over, I was awarded First-Team Defensive Line in

the CCC, and was very proud to have done so. It was really a culmination of all the
hard work and memorization that I had done leading up to and during that year. I had to

work on my body as well as my technique constantly, and it all paid off. I was really

happy because it was something I could say that I did, although I know how important

my coach was because he was the one who made it possible for me to even be

mentioned for the award. However I knew that it was really an honor that was only

awarded to those who worked hard and helped their team, so I was ecstatic to receive

it.

Playing football at Merced High was a great learning experience full of life

lessons that I will carry with me forever. It was without a doubt a bumpy ride, having

very low times and very high times. It was a very long process to turn a team that went

0-10 into a team that went 10-0, and required extremely hard work from everyone

involved. My hard work paid off in a personal way as I received First-Team, and it is

something that I will always be proud over, and the pride that I hold because of it will

never be taken from me.