Twenty-Five Years and Nineteen Yards by Maddox

Twenty-Five Years and Nineteen Yards by Maddox - February 2024 Scholarship Essay

The numbers “7-14” are shining across the scoreboard in bright red lighting. It was the final football game of the season. Our team is down and the game against our rival is on the line. We haven’t won in 25 years. I feel the adrenaline rushing through my body as I set my eyes on the end zone and clutch the football against my chest. Just 19 yards stood between me and that touchdown. As I rushed into the end zone, my arm extended across the line, the adrenaline I was feeling quickly morphed into excruciating pain. The touchdown came with a price – a torn labrum. Within the blink of an eye, my season was over as if it were a scene straight out a movie.

“You’re going to need surgery,” the doctor said after reviewing my X-rays. If I ever wanted to play sports competitively again, this would be the route that I would have to take. I was more shocked when he explained the recovery process would take at least six months. I was crushed and conflicted. It was surreal. As the football and soccer seasons are back-to-back, I was forced into a corner. I had to make a decision about my future. This decision would give me a reality check, that life isn't all butterflies and rainbows, and that sometimes unexpected things happen that will negatively affect your future.

Despite encouragement from my parents and the doctor to pursue surgery immediately, I made the difficult decision to forgo the surgery in an attempt to continue our soccer team’s playoff run. Throughout the season, my shoulder continued to dislocate including while I slept, whenever I put my clothes on, and especially when I was playing soccer. This affected my performance during the season. I was playing scared and hurt, but I powered through, hoping it would be worth it in the end. Our high school team ended up missing the playoffs by a single point finishing 5th in our district. This was probably the most disappointing result I have ever received in all walks of my life so far…I took a chance by making a personal sacrifice that ultimately failed. I felt as if I let my team and myself down. As time would tell, not all things are meant to be.

Following the season, I immediately had surgery and began the recovery process to be ready for football season. Over the course of the summer months, I began physical therapy every single day working my hardest to make sure I wouldn’t come up short again. Experiencing this injury and choosing when to fix it was a decision that I highly regretted at the time. However, rather than feeling stuck on the thought of what I felt was a bad decision, I focused on getting stronger, eating well and positive thinking to make it through this rough patch. Playing high level sports doesn’t only require physical toughness, it also requires mental toughness. As the saying goes -the grass is not always greener on the other side. But, for me, the green grass came in the form of my career decision. Spending time with the therapy team, watching how my body recovered and learning the importance of stretching and nutrition ultimately led me to my decision to pursue a degree in physical therapy. Sometimes mistakes feel like a setback, but ultimately that setback is a setup for the comeback. Not just in sports but in life.