The Value of Hard Work by Skyler

The Value of Hard Work by Skyler - February 2017 Scholarship Essay

The value of hard work is often underrated in today’s society. The common belief of people today is that if someone who is lazy expects a reward or a change, it should be given to them. People have lost motivation, mental capacity, and sheer will to work for what they want. Society today has convinced the public that one should be given what he asks for. The belief in this statement is not true, and hard work should, in most cases, be required in order to achieve a goal, gain a reward, or obtain what one wants. In my own personal experience, I have used hard work to achieve a goal in the form of football. I am a junior for the football team, and I have played football since I was about seven years old. Throughout my young childhood, I was always caught between football and baseball. In the seventh grade, however, I decided to hang up my baseball cleats and devote my sports life to football. The quote, “Life grants nothing to us mortals without hard work,” by Horace describes the situation I have dealt with. I have used hard work to earn a spot on the football field.
From the moment I hung up my baseball cleats, I knew I had to work hard to earn a spot on the football field. I started off on the bench in seventh grade and stayed there the entire season. I was the fourth string quarterback and never touched the field. To begin my eighth grade year, I was exactly where I ended my seventh grade season: fourth string quarterback and second string cornerback. I made a change to tight end and finally found my spot on the field. I started every game that year, and played on the middle school championship team. Out of eighth grade, I felt kind of entitled to a starting spot. When it was not given to me, I became frustrated and often thought about quitting football in just my freshman year. My parents, however, convinced me to stick with it, so I did. My tenth grade year, I made the switch to halfback, and ran the ball every game in junior varsity. After my JV season of running the ball, I felt confident, but no longer entitled like the year before. After starting every JV game and moving up to second on the depth chart for varsity, I had set myself up a spot on varsity for my junior year. Now, in my junior year, I am starting at cornerback for varsity. I have started every game this season. It did not start off that way though. I started off as the third string middle linebacker. After moving to outside linebacker, I eventually was replaced at second string and moved back down to third string. After frustration and confusion for a few weeks, the coached tried me out at corner. I ended up earning a starting spot on varsity before the season started. I started the first game at corner, and did not play badly. As the second game came along, I had to play some free safety, resulting in already my fourth position change on defense alone. After game two, I moved back to cornerback and played well again. After this third game, the coaches decided to move me to strong safety, feeling I had shown better open-field tackling. This fifth position change ended up being an excellent one, as I played well through game nine at that position. Now, going into game ten, I have been moved back to cornerback and will play there for the rest of the season. I accept this role, and am happy to have a starting spot. My story and progression into starting can be summed up by one quote, “Life grants nothing to us mortals without hard work,” by Horace. That is the value of hard work.