Friedrick Nietzsche, a German philosopher, once said “Out of life’s school of war: what does not destroy me makes me stronger.” My name is Dakota, I am a sophomore, and I play football for a small private school in Knoxville, TN. Football is my life, and it has been one of my dreams to play college football for a long time. I have heard it many times before that because of my size I could go to the next level even the NFL. I am not trying to sound arrogant or stuck up but that’s just what people say to me. To understand where I’m coming from, I think I should tell you what I have gone through first.
Last year, when I was freshman we played a below average team and beat them out by a big margin. The coaches decided to put in the younger players to get experience; the only problem was the other team left in their varsity players. As a freshman, I was quite small compared to the other players. At the snap of the ball, I was double-teamed and my knee buckled in after someone dove into it. I was in tremendous pain and was scared my football career was over as I knew it.
Football is my life, and it was fading away from me every second I was lying on the field in pain. I went to the orthopedic doctor, who also happened to be the team’s official doctor, and got an MRI. He said that I tore my meniscus and I would need surgery to correct it. I was so ecstatic. I know what your thinking, how could you be happy? There was a nightmare that formed in the back of my head that I maybe had torn my ACL, which was a very devastating tragedy to many football players in America.
On the day of the surgery I was having an anxiety attack. For one I hate needles and I knew I needed to have an I.V. for Anastasia and I hate the thought of being asleep with no control of waking up. I was freaking out.
After the operation I was in tremendous pain but it hit me, a light bulb lit up in my head later that day when I went home. After arriving at my house to recover, I began to ponder about my injury and I thought of something. Every play I must go hard because I will never get it back and I cannot take back every mistake you make. The injury made me strong morally because it taught me something important. Football is permanent, every down decides the momentum of the game and who really wants it. That is why now I give my all even if I am practicing because any down could be my last. Although my injury was very minor, I realize that it could have been worse. I will cherish the good and the bad times with my team because before I know it I will be off to college whether I play football again or not. There life will get even tougher. I know I’ll be ready for anything that comes my way. I believe that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.