Lessons of Discrimination by Jasmine

Lessons of Discrimination by Jasmine - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

High school seems like a place that is full of lessons to be learned for the future. As a person that has never been able to catch a ball, this is not about some inspirational speech that a coach once gave me. That a teacher once told about the different adversities that they overcame. It is that of the principle, that taught me that there is always room to improve the world. But to also, know that things are changing and will be better for others down line. The event does not seem like you would obtain this information just by experiencing it once. You must think it over to understand that it is not what he stated but what you learned about from his words.
The story goes as this; a friend was wanting to try out for football. They were nervous about this and asked me to come with them for moral support. They wanted to ask the principle to make sure that they would be given a fair chance to tryout. This was a person that had the drive and determination for football. As I had worked around this person for a long time beforehand. We asked if this person could try out for football. The principle said that this person should, 'think about other options.' This definitely discouraged this person and angered me but, it taught me something important. She never tried again to try out for football. But, this act of discrimination taught me that the world is not perfect. We still have work to do. As a teenager, it is hard to understand that these problems that people long before me have faced.
It taught me that the world is not like on the screens. It is not all pretty and perfect. Not everyone is as 'caught up in the times' as the people on television shows and tells. The world is getting better but it is easy to forget that there are still things that need to be improved. After this incident I talked to a female coach about this and she said that in a southern public school she did not doubt that this kind of thing would happen. This saddened me. That this was not something that would anger people, it would seem excepted from the location of the school. I hope that one day someone would be able to break the stereotype of girls playing football. But this principle taught me, through this act of discrimination, showed me that one day this would not be heard of ever again. That one day one girl might ask about football and never be told that they should think again. He opened me eyes through this. That there are things that have been pushed forward today and addressed but there are still things that can improve. That we are still working for equality for everyone boy and girl no matter what.