It's a difficult decision to choose rather to be part of a team or focus more on grades. This situation happened with me to choose between wrestling or improving on grades in Sophomore year. My grades were stable until I joined wrestling, where my grades dropped. I began to be part of the wrestling team so I can be more fit and to learn fighting techniques. Also, my best friend was part of the wrestling team; in fact, I enjoyed wrestling with him.

At first, I was nervous to wrestle. My friends helped train me the basic techniques. Moving forward, I did learn new techniques and was training with the Freshman to learn the basics then coach would transfer me over back to the upper classes. It was fun after a while.

Fun until my grades dropped. It was exhausting. On the other hand, I was in love with the sport. Dripping sweat and our whole bodies would be wet like we came out from a waterfall. In the wrestling room, it was very hot and humid like summer came early during November.

The best part was brotherhood. Even though others didn´t know me, we talked and we began knowing each other. That's how I came close with them. We would practice till 6pm. Sometimes, we would stay later than the normal time. My mom would get worried about me. She would see me stay up late. Showering late. As well as going to bed late. It wasn't a problem for me yet. In my classes, I had my fellow wrestlers with me. My uniform for wrestling meant something special to me.

Within the first few weeks, there was a parent meeting for wrestling. I was excited, but my mom was frightened for me of getting injured. However, my concern wasn't about injuries, it was about the time affected with my family. Not spending time with them or missing out of things because of wrestling. By the time I got out of practice, outside it would be pitch black and sometimes I would walk home or my dad would pick me up if it was his day. The good thing was that I didn't live far; only a couple blocks away from the school. At times, there would be a chilly breeze walking home but I felt relieved because I was warmed up. It was difficult. When I get home, I would shower first then do homework. I would begin doing homework around 7pm and going to bed around 10pm. At times, there would be a test or quiz next day and I would either fail or a low grade. I would sometimes stay after school for a short while with the teacher, then I would go to practice. Still, I barely had time. However, when I went with my father on his days, since my parents are divorced, he would pick me up afterschool to go eat and drop me off after around 8pm.  Again, I would do my normal routine by showering first and then doing homework except this time I would do homework around 8:30 pm. I would stay up till 11pm or 12am. I was tired the next day. I often felt like I stayed up all night. Some nights, I would not be able to study for tests or finish homework.

On a different note, I have learned to workout with weights and being more active. At the same time, eating healthy to maintain my weight, in order to go against people in my weight class. I remember my friends would puke out their food right after they eat to not gain weight. It was awful. I knew I was not purposely going to puke out the food because that's unhealthy for my body. I was wrestling at 145 pounds and building muscle mass, and in time became more muscular. Of course, if we did bad during matches, we would have punishments such as wall runs, where we go back and forth the amount of times we were pinned. It was very tiring and draining. After we were done, we would go continuing practicing and later run as fast as we can as a team on the indoor track. One of the coaches would time us after he said the time he wants us to be finished. Furthemore, if we had a small amount of time left, we would do ten push ups and if a teammate failed to finish the push up, we would have to start over again as a team.

Even on breaks from school, such as winter and Thanksgiving break, we would still have to come to school at 7:30 am for practice or for matches. If it was practice, we would come out at 11am. For matches, we would come out at 1pm. Afterwards, I would be tired the whole day and sometimes my eyes were so hot like they were on fire. It got to that point where I couldn't get use to the new schedule and my mom was concerned about me. I got started in wrestling when my best friend was in it. I wanted to give wrestling an opportunity for me to try out and learn fighting techniques as well. On the same note, I looked up to my cousin who was a wrestler in his high school. Sometimes, we would wrestle and he would always beat me when I was a kid. Now, he's a engineer and we barely have time to wrestle. However, I quit a month later due to my grades dropping. I was determined to choose rather to bring up my grades or keep wrestling and keep having low grades. My mother told me I had to make the decision, but I loved wrestling and a sport I enjoy. However, I chose to quit but I still use my techniques I learned when it comes to fighting. Now, during PE, I would wrestle with some friends just to play around and teach them some techniques.

To conclude, I did learn things in wrestling even though I didn't finish the rest of the season. However, I was thankful to come back to my old schedule where I spent more time with my family and not missing anything. It was a difficult decision but I was glad I was part of the wrestling team. In the end, I still talk to the people who are or were in wrestling; I was glad that I was introduced to them.