Three Years of Excellence by Ross

Three Years of Excellence by Ross - December 2016 Scholarship Essay

Accomplishments can be big or small. They may range from getting an A on a test to scoring a touchdown. Not to mention all of the stuff in between. The accomplishment I’m most proud of has to do with football. It’s more of a series of accomplishments; three in a row to be precise. They’re called the Ironman awards.

The Ironman awards are awards given out each year at the football banquet after the close of the season. An Ironman is given to one player in each grade that put in the most work in the offseason. I won my 9th, 10th and 11th grade years. That may not seem like a massive accomplishment, but to me it was huge. No one had ever won twice in a row before, and I did three years in a row.

Those awards to me validated all of the hours I had put in on the field and in the weight room each day after school. Countless days going home too sore to climb stairs, or pour a glass of milk. Following each workout to the tee and never skipping reps. Sometimes lifting alone because everyone else was at a basketball game or other event. The Ironman awards made that all worth it to me. They told me that coaches recognized my effort and saw the improvements I was making.

I was proud of myself for doing things most people wouldn’t do, and going where some people wouldn’t go in terms of effort. I am still empowered by the thought that I did what no one had done before and won all three years. The Ironmen are hanging on my wall today, and every once in a while I gaze up at them and remember those hard winters and long summers, thinking of myself as a true Ironman.