Whenever I think about what my future is going to be like, and what I want to be when I grow up, all I can think about is being a professional soccer player.  I grew up playing soccer at the age of five, and haven’t stopped playing soccer ever since, I grew up loving the game of soccer.  I remember my parents telling me that when I was a baby I’d always hide all the soccer balls from one of my uncles who was a coach, and how I’d start crying whenever he’d take them away from me.  My dad started training me at the age of five to play soccer, and I joined my first soccer league at the age of six.  I still remember playing in that league when I was six, I played in the YMCA soccer league at Pasco, and I played for a team named Tigres.  We played in a group age of 6-8 years old and we ended up being champions that year, to this day I still have that first place medal hanging in my room.
As I started growing up I started to learn more about the game of soccer and little by little I started getting better and better.  Year after year I’ve continued to play outdoor soccer during the spring, summer, and fall, and during winter I’d play indoor soccer so that I could continue to play soccer.  When I was a little kid I had so much energy that I wanted to play soccer every single day, I remember bugging my dad all the time to take me to the soccer field so I could play.
A soccer player that I look up to and admire is Lionel Messi.  Lionel Messi is an inspiration to me because he is a great soccer player.  Messi has accomplished a lot during his career as a soccer player such as breaking many records and winning a lot of trophies with his club FC Barcelona as well as his national team Argentina, he has also won many individual awards as well.  Not only does he inspire me because of his soccer skills, but also because he is a very humble and great human being as well.  He created a charity called The Leo Messi Foundation which focuses on supporting children’s rights.  Messi also played several charity matches to help out the Leo Messi Foundation.  He has also donated $130,000 to children who were victims of the Syrian civil war.  He has done many things to help out, and that’s also what I want to do.
When I grow up, and if I reach my dream of becoming a professional soccer player and earn a good amount of money I’d like to help out people in need.  I’d like to be able to donate a lot of money to children’s hospitals, and help out people who are sick and don’t have the money to pay for their medical bills.  One of the reasons I’d like to help out people with sicknesses or illnesses is because my oldest sister has kidney failure, and needs a kidney transplant.  But not everyone has the money to pay for medical treatments, therefore I’d like to donate some money for people who need it if I reach my goal and earn a good amount of money.
I know I have to train very hard every day in order to reach my dream.  But I know that if I have the right mindset and stay determined my dream will eventually become a reality, and I will not give up on my dream until I finally reach it.  I will also need to stay healthy, and take care of myself to make sure I don’t get a really bad injury.  Sometimes all it takes is a really bad injury to end someone’s soccer career.  I will also have to eat right, train right, and sleep right to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
My parents are my motivation to reaching my goal, because they have always been there for me since the day I was born.  They’ve raised me, fed me, bought most of my things, provided shelter for me, and they also have supported me in everything I’ve done.  They’ve also supported me and playing soccer, and they support me when I tell them that becoming a professional soccer player is what I want to do.  I’d like to repay my parents someday for everything they’ve done for me, I’d like to someday buy them a house and I’d like to someday be able to tell them that they will no longer have to work anymore because I’d see them come home tired from work every single day from a job that doesn’t even pay that much.  I just want to reach my dream and make my parents proud.  I’d also like to be able to repay my sister for caring for me all throughout my senior year.
In my opinion soccer would be the best job in the world to have because I’d be getting paid for something that I love doing, and something that I’d never get tired of doing.  I’d look forward to waking up early in the morning and saying “I’m ready for work” knowing that my job would be to play soccer.  It’d be a dream come true to make a living out of playing soccer because there’s nothing I enjoy more than being able to play soccer.
It would also be a dream come true being able to play in a stadium full of thousands of fans.  Stepping onto the pitch during game day hearing those thousands of fans screaming and cheering for my team would be a wonderful feeling.  Hearing the referee blow his whistle as the game starts, and from there playing with everything I’ve got on the soccer field.  Playing with my heart, and never stop trying during the game because something my coaches have always said is “If you’re not tired after the game is over, or dripping sweat than you didn’t play with everything you’ve got.”
Playing high school soccer was an incredible experience, making varsity all four years of my high school career and being a starter all four years as well.  From winning the State Championship my freshman year to losing the State Championship my senior, it was all a wonderful experience. I remember being team captain my junior and senior year, saying our team prayer before every game which was “God our father, hear us pray, as we pause, to play this day, give us strength, and courage too, to do the best, that we can do, God our father hear our prayer, amen.”  Winning the State Championship has to be the highlight of my high school soccer season because it was the best feeling ever being able to win the State Championship.
I remember whenever I’d go training with my dad he’d always tell me that I have the talent to become a profession soccer player, but that I need to stay disciplined, have a positive attitude and always train as hard as I can.  He’d also tell me that I need to focus on school and get good grades which I need to start doing a better job at.  I know that becoming a professional soccer player is going to be a very difficult thing to accomplish, but I am willing to do whatever it takes in order to become a better soccer player and to make my dream a reality.
I know there will definitely be many obstacles that I will need to overcome in order to reach my goal, but if I never give up and keep on pushing forward maybe someday overcoming those obstacles would have been worth it and I will be able to say I finally reached my goal.  I plan on making all the hard work and dedication that I’ve put into soccer be worth it, because I would not like to let myself down.