Anyone can give advice even if it's not good advice. by daniel

Anyone can give advice even if it's not good advice. by daniel - September 2022 Scholarship Essay

A piece of advice that I would give my past self is that not all advice means that it is good advice. Because sometimes people's negative opinions influence your decisions and hold you back from something you want to do. I say negative opinions because there is such a thing as constructive criticism and good opinions from your inner circle of people.
I have always felt that sometimes people were trying to hold me back from potential success, my first example being when I decided to golf instead of doing track. Most of the people around me begged, pleaded, and argued that I should be doing track as an athlete and that golf would not help me in the off-season of wrestling. Yet in my perspective, I am now doing a lifetime sport I can play till I'm 80.
The next thing I can think of where people's opinions negated my decision was doing a three-month EMT course over my summer. I was told many times “that I can work my whole life” and “you will be missing out on your summer.” Now while this advice is very true I took it with a grain of salt and took the course anyways and now I am sitting here as an EMT licensed in the state of Iowa. For something I can use for the rest of my life, what did I miss out on sleeping in every day, fishing, or going on vacation?
The most controversial thing I have probably ever been involved with is not doing football my senior year. There is probably a big-time football fan gritting their teeth just reading that but for me, it was the right decision. Instead of doing football, I have been wrestling four to five times a week and I don't regret a thing about it. Doing football I would have had to wear double knee braces and hope I don't tear something again while there is potential to do the same with wrestling too. Now I am 8 weeks ahead of schedule with my pre-season conditioning and I have learned things that I have never heard of before like an over hook arm lock.
Now I am not saying that people purposefully were trying to prevent me from golfing, getting my EMT, or doing preseason wrestling instead of football because everyone gives you their advice for a reason whether it be from their personal experience or what they think is best for you. So for my past self, I think it's important to know that not all advice means that it's good advice because anyone and everyone can give you advice and will have their two cents to say. After you weigh all the advice you are given, in the end you need to weigh it from your own perspective and do your own thinking to make your own decision for what's best for you.