What I learned

AMST 100 has been an eye opening experience for me. I have noticed throughout the course that there is more to the world than just sports and what UMBC has to offer. The most important thing I have learned is the ability to show my ideas on a piece of paper rather than simply telling. The ability to describe your thoughts in a coherent yet descriptive way puts your reader in the story and is a skill that I must master. It allows my writing to be more interesting and effective. This has been a great class.

 

Word count: 100

Heroes

Heroes

We skated around with the cold winter air hitting our faces. The sticks were slapping and the pucks were flying. Hearing the occasionally ping as one would ricochet of the goal pipe. We were the boys of winter. Every day after school we would go down to the frozen lake playing the game we loved until we could see no longer.

As we skated and played our hearts out on this little pond we imagined ourselves on the big stage, with the fans cheering and all the eyes on us. That’s the moment we put ourselves in every time we played.

One night after a full day, we were in the basement all huddled around. Our eyes wide open not for a second looking off the screen. Our hometown heroes were playing the biggest game the city had seen. Time was counting down, minutes were ticking by and finally the game was down to seconds. All of the sudden 5,4,3,2,1...they won it. The caps won, they did it. We shouted and cheered, “Rock the Red.” The streets of DC were flooded with the color of red as we looked on the TV.

For us this was more than just a championship win. This was our dream. The hometown heroes who we idolized, won. The spotlight was on them. In our hearts, this is what we wanted. The few of us, the boys of the neighborhood, becoming the heroes of DC. We fantasized about that every day that we played. After that game, every time we skated on that little pond of ice in the back of our houses, that’s who we thought about that’s the game we imagined. In our own little worlds on that frozen pond dreams became a reality and we were the hometown heroes of DC.

 

Point: Always dream big.

 

Word Count: 300

This I Believe

You Only Have One

William Jenkins

Word Count: 297

 

                Waking up every morning is a gift that we all are lucky to receive on a daily basis.  I can’t really tell you how I came to this belief; perhaps it was during my childhood when multiple family members were dying during a short window of time or perhaps it was over time simply hearing things in the media and realizing how lucky I actually am.  I only have one chance at living.  Why not make the most of it?   We don’t know what tomorrow brings.  I want to live everyday like it is my last.  In my opinion, living has two definitions.  One is to go through life conservatively, just getting by.  The other is waking up every day with a smile on your face knowing that today is an opportunity to try something new, to experience something different, and to live in the moment.  In comparison to the grand scheme of things, our lives are short.  We only have a certain number of days or years to make an impact.  I lost three (3) great-grandparents and two (2) grandparents in a five (5) year span which proved to me that one minute you can be healthy and the next all can be taken from you.  Instead of worrying or constantly thinking about the negative things that could happen, I choose to think about the gift I have been given that day.  Make the most of each day.  Never leave a stone unturned.  In the end (whenever that time may come), I wish to think that I never left anything undone.  I hope I never have to say, “Oh I’ll try it another day or time.”  Live in the now, be in the now, and give 100% everyday.  I wish to live each day with a smile on my face knowing when I lay in my bed at night, that today, this day, I truly “lived.”

 

Belief: To live each day like it is my last.

The Community Playground

Providence Rec Center has been a place to have fun for over 50 years. From the time when my father was a child to my childhood we grew up playing at PRC. My friends and I would spend hours at the Center after school as I saw my father grinning on the side knowing years ago he was in my shoes.  Recently the county was going to close it and put in a shopping mall. The community stepped in and prevented this from happening. PRC formed my childhood or better said, our childhood.

 

Word Count: 99

The Perfect Brand

I have always been about trying to look cool (I’ll be honest). I try to incorporate this cool look with who I am as an athlete. Senior year in school I found the perfect brand match for me. A combination of coolness and representing that I play baseball at the same time. It hit me like a tidal wave of excitement when I found the company 22 fresh.  This company allows me to have clothes that aren’t workout attire but still shows that I play baseball. It is the perfect balance of the new term, swag.

Word count: 96

The immature kids of sophomore year

Everyone goes through phases and since I went to a Catholic high school and everyone wore uniforms, there were definitely many trends. The biggest one started my sophomore year when the newest style was to button all three buttons on our polo’s all the way to the top. It was trying to shove it in the school’s face for making us wear uniforms. I guess since we were immature we thought we were sending a message to the school by saying, “you want us to look nice; well, we will take it to another level and be obnoxious doing it.”

 

Word count: 100

More than a game

                My home isn’t an enclosed place with a roof, or a cozy bed in a room. It’s between the chalk lines on the baseball field.  Ever since I was a little kid I have played baseball and have made one of my many dreams come true by playing at the Division I level here at UMBC. When I step onto the diamond I don’t think or care about anything else but baseball. All my problems go away and I feel true joy. It is a one of a kind thing playing baseball and I wouldn’t trade it for a thing.

Word count: 100