This might be a story that is easy to relate to. A young boy goes to a public school in a suburban town named Mundelein, Illinois. He has lived there most of his life and has always been looked down upon. He struggled when it came to playing sports and had difficulty in school because he had to face older competitors that had more experience. Whenever he thought he believed hitting a double was impressive somebody else would step up and hit a homerun. He was the boy who read books like Captain Underpants as a kid while others read books like Moby Dick and could comprehend it as if they were high school students. Those who hurdled the obstacles such as reading, playing sports, and socializing - which he had stumbled over - didn’t even know that the boy existed. He was a boy who simply wanted to make a name for himself and be seen in the world. He later grows into a man who tells his tales in the third person, in belief that he will appear important to others.

A younger boy seemed to have no importance. They were supposed to look up to those above them. No matter how much they worked at becoming a catcher for a high school baseball team. They were expected to fail; believed of being too short or too weak to even attempt playing a sport. I refused to accept this terrible curse bestowed upon me even despite the fact that I was outnumbered. I would never give away the right to challenge myself and improve my skills with school and sports. Whether it be working on my swing to get more power and accuracy out of how I hit the ball so others wouldn’t say “Great now we are going to lose” because of their lack of trust in my ability. Or whether it was about studying non-stop for my test to impress my fellow classmates so I could have others asking me “Hey can you help me study? I saw that you did pretty well on that last test.” I would always fight for that recognition. However, along with other younglings, we were all expected to fail in a highly-competitive world. Those who lived up to those expectations were understood by the other younglings because the others already accepted the humiliation they were damned with - for most of their life.

I refused to fail. I was brilliant. I was dedicated. I was driven. I worked on my grounders everyday after school to improve my technique for the games. I worked to beat my own personal record for my next race. I worked to get the best score out of my class on a test. I worked five to six hours 4 - 5 days a week to pay for gas so I can actually drive a car to impress my friends. I worked to play in my schools honors band on the Alto Saxophone. I worked to become first chair of that band. I worked to become the best. I was trying to prove my worth and overcome my age.