Essay Sample: How to Kill Your Body in 3 Months

Like most athletes, I believed I could never be the injured teammate, but then the 2021 volleyball season began. As a child, I always wanted to play sports. At night my dad and I would watch baseball and spend time together. Then at the age of seven, my mom signed me up for volleyball, and from the start, I fell in love with it. My parents have been the best supporters I could ask for, even when the rough times started on August 25, 2021.

It was the beginning of the season and I was playing the second match of my sophomore season when a player on the other side of the net came onto my side. I landed straight on her foot and fell. As an athlete, I am taught to finish the play, so I played on. That night I limped out of the gym after having my ankle wrapped by the best trainer, whose name is Nate. It was pretty swollen, but I just put an ankle brace on and said it was fine. Little did I know that this could obviate numerous opportunities in the future.

A little less than a month later as I was at the pinnacle of my season something even worse happened. I was playing in a tournament at Bonneville on the same court as my last injury. I went to hit a ball and came down hard on my teammate's foot. The realization went through my brain as I sat on the ground for a second in shock. Then the pain hit; it was as if a train ran right over my foot. Tears instantly filled my eyes as I turned to my coach.

She then looks at me with so much worry in her eyes and says, “Are you okay?”

I shook my head with turbulence as she asked. My dad came over and carried me to the trainer's room. My ankle was already swelling fast as I could almost feel its heartbeat; therefore, we had to ice it immediately. The same ankle I had rolled not even a month before, had been completely sprained. The smart thing to do would have been to rest for a week, but I never was one to make smart decisions. Two days later I was playing again. Now do not get me wrong, I iced it and took care of it, but I should have waited until it was fully healed. It was such an important game that I refused to miss, so I said I was fine and played on. I did not want to waive the opportunity to become successful.

As I played the next couple of weeks, I tried to use my hurt ankle as little as I could, causing me to abuse my other leg. I don't even think that it was a week later when I felt an ominous ache in my shin. Now, this was quite the inopportune time for another injury. Walking, jumping, and even turning it at the wrong angle would shoot pain up my leg. I informed my dad and he made an appointment with a physical therapist so I could successfully finish the season. It turns out that putting that much weight on one leg can cause chronic shin splints. I was limping everywhere, and could not even sit down with my legs crossed. My physical therapist, or as I call her the Witch Doctor, helped a little but the pain just kept getting worse. This was causing me to be able to play less and less as I watched from the sidelines.

Then my volleyball team made it to state. It was the end of the season and all I wanted to do was play. So I played all 6 games. I was at the point where I could not even jump, so my coach had me put on the libero jersey and just play back row. As we were in the championship game we were so close to winning, but we lost in the fifth set. As the adrenaline drained out of my body, tears instantly filled my eyes. The sweat and hard work trickled down my face as I tried to tune out the world. I limped off the court and sat down as all the pain, emotions, and exhaustion overflowed. One tear started the flood of the rest as I sat and cried.

On the way back home I started to think about how I was not at my best for the game. How we could have won if I was not hurt. And it all went back to that silly game on August 25. It was the start of never fully recovering my body. It was then that I realized that I had been playing with fire the minute I played on the first injury. I now know that I have to take care of myself. I have knowledge that just because I want to play through the first injury I should fully recover before taking action on that decision. I find solace that I am now an athlete who will take care of myself, even if it risks me not playing every game.