Soccer, many people just look at it as kicking a ball around. Well for me it was something more important for me. In school i was never motivated to do well in school. I would walk into class and day dream. Getting screamed at by the teacher to pay attention. “Michael!” my teachers would say pointing at the board. I would end up looking at the board but once again I would doze off and day dream. Then in the 5TH grade soccer came into my life. I was not good at the sport and not much in shape but I loved to play it. My parents would tell me “ If you want to play soccer and train you have to do well in school.” Those words motivate me a bit.
I would end up putting minimal effort to pass the grade. Over time I got better in soccer and more in shape. People started seeing me being a good player so they started to recommend me to play for academies. Me with my positive mind thinking my parents would say yes but academies aren’t cheap and we aren’t rich.my parents would say “ we can’t afford that it’s too expensive.” Me being disappointed, my dad saw that I was sad and told me I can play in Ecuador because over there it’s cheaper. The only exception is that I had to get excellent grades if I wanted to go play over there. So I studied harder and tried my best to get the best grades that I could get. At the same time I would be training with many different trainers and while training I would learn strategies that I would end up using in school. One strategy I used was this quote. I was told “cierra los ojos y concĂ©ntrate.” which means close your eyes and concentrate. Every time I did an exercise and I wanted to give up my coach would always scream that quote to me. I used this quote for school, every time i wanted to give up and just stop studying I would close my eye and start talking to myself and try to motivate myself to keep studying, to concentrate. Before I found out about soccer I had low grades that my parents would be disappointed about. when I met my grades started to go up and my grades improved by a lot.
Good work here, Michael!
Suggestion to start with:
“Michael!”
Again, I was day dreaming in [WHAT CLASS? Ms WHO give a name] screamed at me to pay attention. “Michael!” my teacher [name} would say pointing at the board. I would end up looking at the board but once again I would [soon] doze off and day dream.
2.You: Me with my positive mind thinking my parents would say yes but academies aren’t cheap and we aren’t rich.my parents would say “ we can’t afford that it’s too expensive.” Now get this into a dialogue with the exact words coming out of your parents’ mouths and what you said or thought inside. Did you feel diappointment or determination? SHOW me your inner thoughts in this important convo with parents. What was the deal your parents made with you?
3.Can you clarify: I can play in Ecuador because over there it’s cheaper. Were you going to move back and change to a school in Ecuador? Were you going to play summers in Ecuador because your family goes every summer to Ecuador?
4.Loved this: “cierra los ojos y concéntrate.” Great you use Spanish to color your writing and give a flavor of the Spanish part of your life! Can you create a scene here: every time i wanted to give up and just stop studying I would close my eye and start talking to myself and try to motivate myself to keep studying, to concentrate. Where were you in your room late at night, what were you working on?
5.What was being on an Ecuadorian team like? Describe excitement, describe any special friendships. Did you feel that you belonged? Any feelings of being between two worlds when you went off to Ecuador and being back in America? NOT sure bc you don’t specify if you moved back or how you were able to play in Ecuador. SHow me a scene of your happy time playing and belong to the Ecuadorian soccer world.
6.TIME LINE AND OUTLINE: What events and what order will you use to move your story forward? Remember outline we did for Colin Powell My AMerican Journey.