It doesn’t matter how good of people we are, we all take things for granted once every so often. However, the sad part of it is that sometimes when things come to an end, we realized that we will never be able to go back to the beginning. I am writing this article because I am glad that I did not take my high school football career for granted and I lived through the tough times that shaped me to be the person I am today.

Three touchdowns a game, one thousand yards in a year, all conference player…they were never listed as my accomplishments. Through freshman to varsity, I was always a substitute only to let starters take breathers for few plays and then went back on the bench. And don’t even talk about the stereotypical football players dating cheerleaders because I was never one of the football players who gets lucky after Friday night games; I might have gotten a-“good job number 48” if it was my lucky day. However, without the fame that everyone admires, I still loved football.

Football played the role of a mentor to me rather than just a simple “ kill the guy with the ball “ game. In the four years of high school, I see my football career as a shortened life journey that has a start and an end. I remember the first time walking into the weight room as a true freshman; I was clueless about what was going to happen to me. The next second I noticed what I had gotten myself into, I was already pumping iron and running sprints on the track with my new freshman teammates and fearful varsity players, the big boys. Freshman football went fast, I had fun and was ready to move onto the next level, the varsity football. However, varsity football was not just purely for fun, it was a place where only tough ones survives. When I was a sophomore, the whole team went to a camp for summer training. It was the worst week that anyone could have experienced: three-a-day ( three practices a day ), bad food, no females, no moms, no clean bathrooms, and no comfortable beds, but we all made it through. And I knew that if I could go through that dreadful week, I could survive on this team for rest of the high school years. I was never made to be a quitter.

Here I am today, just finished my high school football career a week ago. I said the goodbyes to the coaches and teammates and shed tears when the final second finally arrived in the last game. I am glad that I had spent fours years of high school with the coaches and teammates. Sure, there were times when things did not go well, but that’s life, and life has its bumps in between. I can go on telling everybody about the tough times that I went through, but what’s the point? Football has been great, but good things will eventually come to an end, just like someday we will all rest in peace. I am happy that I made it. All I can do now is to close the box of memories and let them be part of who I am for the rest of my life.