Sports have always been an escape for me whether it was with troubles with my family or troubles in school I always knew I could do like a basketball or baseball to help alleviate the pain and stress of everyday life. I started watching and playing sports at the same I learned how to walk. I grew up with baseball, it has been a steady in presence in my life, and still is. I even still have my old Derek Jeter jersey that I used to wear all the time when I was a kid. My life, like everyone else’s, has had many ups and downs to it, but throughout my life, sports have been there for me at the darkest times. Sports, baseball specifically, has been the one constant factor that never changed and it kept a sense of balance in my life in the toughest times. It helped me through my parents divorce, fights with friends and family, and whatever hardships came with life. Whenever I would take the pitchers mound or get ready to do a set, I would forget about everything. The stress of school, the confusion and anger of a parents divorce, anything that could’ve been possibly upsetting me at the time I just forgot. Wether it was the next pitch I threw or the next set I did, I’d take a deep breath and I would tell myself in my head “just take it one after the other”, and that’s the way I live my life now, one task after the other. It helped me organize my life, improve my school work, and improve my health. Baseball especially had helped me in ways that are irreplaceable. It’s helped me through my toughest times, helped me make some of my closest friends that I would’ve never met without sports in my life, and become a better version of myself, one that I can I say I am comfortable and proud of.
The first time sports really acted as an safe haven for me from every day life, was when I was seven and my parents were going through a divorce. Times were very tough and even though at times I felt like I had nobody to talk to, playing baseball was there and helped take my mind off of the pain of the real world and it provided me with a place to be myself, alleviate my anger, and give my mind a break. It helped again when in high school my relationship with my father just ceased existing. It was a difficult time for me. High school was daunting enough for me already, coming from a small school and not knowing anybody did not help either. I was not a good student at first, had only a few friends, and had to deal with the same senseless drama too many kids have to deal with in high school. But with baseball and weightlifting though, it helped me make friends and do better on and off the field, and I don’t know where I would be today without both of those things in my life. It made me felt that I belonged somewhere, a part of something that I had felt I never been a part of before. Day by day things with my family improved, but without baseball and lifting during this time, I do not know how I could have coped with everything. They allowed me to escape from the madness of everyday life.
My senior year I remember specifically out of all four years of my high school career. It felt like the world was slowly pilling things on top of me and there was nothing there that could help. I was frustrated with myself, school and nearly everything. I decided to put my frustration into good use and used it as motivation for baseball, so that for once finally, I could good about something that I did. I worked hard in the offseason before the season and it was my most successful season. One of the best things to happen to me during the season had nothing to do with the actual sport, but actually the friends I made on the team. I had made great friendships that without baseball, I would’ve never met them. My hard work in the offseason has carried over, and although there are bumps along this long road we call life, I can confidently say that because of sports and specifically baseball, I have become more organized, healthier and happy, and it’s a big part of the reason why I’m happy as who I am today.