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I really enjoyed this topic and the discussion that resulted. Sports/athletics have been a major component of my life ever since I was young and my dad enrolled my sister and I in gymnastics. After doing that for about a year I remained active, playing street ball, wall ball, kickball, and tennis with friends. I did not participate in an organized sport again until high school and through college.

It was interesting to hear the discussion about competition. I think that I have always been more competitive with myself than anyone else. I am always focusing on how I can improve and reach my ultimate goal, independent of whoever my component may be. This is especiallly evidient in my involvement with the track team....It is kind of funny when I think about it, but everyone on the team including the coach knows that I do not want to hear my standing going into races or even who I am going to be racing against. In my opinion, that takes away from self-competitiveness and causes you to focus more on your opponent rather than yourself which is where a lot of the anxiety and nerves generate from- the uncertainty of what your opponent is capable of. Despite that, everyone always seems to be caught up in their abilities/accomplishments relative to someone else.

Given my own ideal of competition, participating in sports has taught me many life skills and lessons, perserveance being a major one. That inspite of whatever may be going on, if you keep your faith and never give up, succes is bound to come. Now, that success may not always come in the form that you would like or even within the time frame that you would like, but it is success nevertheless and will make you an overall stronger person while teaching you things about yourself that you probably never knew. In addition to perserverance, participating in sports has definitely taught me about team work, time management, confidence, hard work, dedication, determination, and RESULTS.