This I Believe Essay-Draft 1

   I believe in taking opportunities. Not just taking them a little, not just dipping your toe in the water, but taking them as far as you can and getting as much out of them as possible. You have to work to get the most out of something, and really taking an opportunity means putting everything into something in order to get something out of it. Taking an opportunity sometimes means taking risks. It means putting something into the opportunity that might not pay off, but knowing that if you do get something back it will be worth it. It means putting aside the easy and taking up the difficult because in the end it will be worth it.
            Taking opportunities means doing everything to the fullest. To get the greatest rewards out of something, you can’t just do it half-heartedly. The biggest rewards require the biggest efforts. You won’t get out more than you put in. Years of playing sports taught me this lesson. As an athlete, I have learned that practice and performance go hand in hand, and that the performance will only be as good as the practice. My freshman year I played left field for the varsity softball team at my high school. Going into that season, I knew that if I wanted to start varsity, I would have to earn it. I earned it by not only going to every practice, but by giving 110% in every drill and exercise, having a coachable attitude and doing my best to learn from my mistakes, and staying after practice many days and working on things with my mom. My outfield skills developed a tremendous amount during that season and the summer before it, and my maximum effort all the time showed my coach that I wanted to play varsity and would work hard and earn my spot. I saw the opportunity to improve my game and play on a good team, and I took the opportunity and proved that I wanted it by giving it my all.

            Doing something a little bit won’t get you the rewards you want out of something. I work hard in softball, but I always neglect my other game, basketball. I started playing basketball during elementary school, around the time I started playing softball, but I never enjoyed it as much as I did softball. Due to my lack of interest, I never worked on basketball outside of team practice, and I ended up taking a few years off of basketball during late elementary. I started playing again in junior high, took my freshman year off, and resumed playing my sophomore year. By my sophomore year the average skill level for people my age greatly outstripped my own abilities. I still enjoy the game, and I still play varsity at my school, but simply because we only have eight people on our team. Although I took the opportunity to play basketball, I missed the opportunity to play well and to really help my team. I have still gone to every team practice and given it my all, and I even went to summer workouts, but I didn’t put the hours of individual work into basketball like I did for softball, and it shows in my performance. I didn’t take full advantage of the opportunity to be a serious basketball player because I didn’t put everything I could into it.

            Sometimes taking an opportunity means stepping out of your comfort zone. Many of the best opportunities disguise themselves as risks, and because of this, many people pass them by. When I was in junior high, I switched travel softball teams. My old team just wasn’t quite right for me, and my parents and I decided it was time to leave. After the current season was over, my dad told my coach I wouldn’t be playing with them next year, and we began shopping for a new team. I didn’t know where I would play when I left my old team, and there was always the risk I would end up in a worse situation than the one I had left, but I knew that there were good things waiting out there if I was willing to go out and get them. I was nervous about leaving my friends on the old team and going to a team that I was unfamiliar with. I would have to get used to a completely new group of people and I didn’t know how good they would be. I tried out and subbed for multiple teams to try to get a feel for them before I found one that was right. I played with my new team for three years and loved it the whole time. My skills improved and I had a lot of fun, and it wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t been willing to get away from the team I was comfortable with and try new things.

            Taking an opportunity might mean having to miss a few things along the way. Doing something right can require sacrificing some time and effort along the way. Over the years I have missed plenty of social opportunities in order to go to practice or do homework.  My goal is and always has been to play softball in college. Working toward this goal has required me to put in hundreds of hours outside of team practice to hone my skills and put myself ahead of my competition. I can’t always go to the football game on Friday, and I can’t always watch a movie with my sisters or read the book I’m dying to start. But playing softball for four years after I graduate high school is an opportunity I know I want to take, and I won’t even have the opportunity if I don’t work and put something into it. There is no guarantee I will play in college, and no guarantee that injury won’t end my career, and if I don’t play in college I will never get back the hours I put into softball. I have put something into this opportunity that there is no certainty I will get back, but if I do get it back, it will be worth it. I have to take the chance if I want any hope of getting something out of it.

            The most worthwhile opportunities aren’t usually easy to take. I knew when I started high school that I wanted to complete as much college credit as I could before I graduated. I wanted to have a head start when I started college full-time. This year, my junior year of high school, I am enrolled in five dual-credit classes. Just as I expected, these classes are more challenging than my high school classes, but they are more rewarding because I know they will help me more in the long run. I have to work harder at them, but I also get more out of them and learn more. I am taking the opportunity to accelerate and enhance my education. Taking dual credit classes is not the easiest opportunity I have ever taken, but I know that if I keep working hard and putting full effort into them, they will definitely pay off in the end.

            Choosing the right opportunities to take requires me to keep things in perspective. I have to choose whether to do what seems fun and easy, or to do what requires a little bit more of me but I know will be more rewarding in the end. I have to choose between cruising through life only thinking about what I want right at the moment and taking opportunities that challenge me in the present but will pay off in the future. I believe in taking opportunities, and that means looking at things long-term.

            I believe taking opportunities is something that is necessary to reap the greatest rewards and have the fullest life. Take opportunities that will push and challenge you and require you to put something in before you take something away, because the more you put in, the more you will get back. Taking risks is often necessary when taking opportunities; sometimes the risks will pay off, and sometimes they won’t. It is impossible to know without taking the risk in the first place. Taking an opportunity leaves no room for half-heartedness. It won’t pay off without putting something into it first. I believe in putting in full effort and taking full advantage of the chances I am given. I believe in taking opportunities.