Being a Friend Across all Groups by Cooper

Being a Friend Across all Groups by Cooper - November 2019 Scholarship Essay

My freshman year everything I thought I was, was taken away from me in an instant. I had just run a 5 minute 56 second mile on cross country. My fastest time ever and I had trained all summer. The day before my first cross country team meet, I was told I may never be able to run again or participate in any sport. When the Doctor entered the room, I knew something was wrong. The bad news was my heart was enlarged and I was not cleared to do anything that brought my heart rate up. He explained that I was at risk for sudden cardiac death. It took my breath away. I had always played baseball, soccer, and basketball for every season of my life. I defined myself as an athlete from the time I was five years old playing on the T ball team. My weeks were always filled with games and practices. I cried and felt sorry for myself for a time. But I had a choice to make; I could wallow in self-pity or involve myself in my school, my community, and sports anyway I could.
My best friend dragged me to my first ASB meeting, and then Circle of Friends meeting. I started to widen my activities. I became friends with people I had never interacted with before. I joined Friends of Rachel Anti Bullying Club. I volunteered for beach clean ups and became a camp counselor at the Humane society. I started to get enjoyment out of other things than sports for the first time in my life. I made friends with kids in my school that were not athletes. Kids with special needs like, John, my peer buddy in Circle of Friends. He has a diagnosis of autism. He and I had lunch together every week and I think we both looked forward to it. I was actually able to volunteer at A Night to Remember Special Needs Prom event. It was so great for my new friends to have this event. Several of my Circle of Friends and Peer Buddy Partners were able to go to Padre games together.
The following September, I had all the heart tests again. By some miracle, my heart had healed. Suddenly I was cleared to do any sport I wanted. I did not take it for granted. I joined baseball again. I tried water polo my Senior year and made Varsity. I never missed a single practice. The greatest part was I was able to be an athlete again and still involved in my school activiites. My involvement with my school transcended groups of "jocks", "nerds", "special needs" and I was able to be a friend across all groups.
The challenge I overcame was a gift in disguise. The challenge for me was to change and grow and expand my definition of self. I was lucky to have the opportunity to expand my circle of friends to include people from a variety of backgrounds and interests. I am lucky to be able to be a part of the my school in all aspects. I will never take that for granted.