Learning is Fun

The question at hand today, is learning fun? Can learning be fun? Well the simple answer in my mind is yes. There is fun in learning, for example, if you play sports then playing the game you love is fun, if you have a favorite subject in school you find it interesting and fun, or you could be a devoted musician and you find fun in learning how to play a new song or instrument. Whatever it may be the simple answer is yes there can be fun in learning. I'm an athlete and I love playing sports in general but nothing beats football, or comes close in comparison of fun. I also find math fun. You are probably laughing saying you think math is fun? Yes, I do find math fun it took me all of my high school career and now in my first semester of college to realize I find math fun. It's fun to be given a problem and failing at it so many times until you get it right. One more last surprise, I am not a musician but I have played guitar for a couple months. Well not a couple months but anyway the point is the three things I find fun all bring their own challenges. You can't say oh I like watching football on television I'm going to go try out. Well you could do that but you probably won’t get the results you were expecting. Football brings its fair amount of challenges and failures, but if you love something so much no matter how many times you fail you keep trying. We find great satisfaction when we finally figure out the answer to the problem or accomplish the task at hand. Same thing with math. You can't just walking in ad know everything there is to know about math. It takes time and a lot of practice to become decent at math, once you figure out and understand the concepts that is when math is fun. You can start looking at problems differently and see if there are different ways to get the same answer. That is when the fun begins is when you are able to experiment. Last but not least, learning how to play guitar is fun begin able to express yourself with music is always fun. Learning new songs to play for family, friends, and girl’s haha, but music really relaxes me and learning how to play is a struggle. I'm not the best guitar player, probably not even halfway decent, but it’s the failure and problems that make it fun. I can play a couple chords that don't make any sense to a person who is well involved with music. But the point is when you can take something you love no matter how horrible it may seem, if you really enjoy it you can make learning the important things about it fun. I believe you make it fun in your own way if you choose to do so. I look forward to math because I can make it fun, you can do the same if you try hard enough. So the next time you find something that sparks your interest whether its school related, sports, music, food, cars, etc., you can make learning it fun.

Mistakes Bring Out Character

Being an athlete mistakes are always destined to happen, you just hope and pray they don't happen to you in a big situation. I remember the biggest mistake of my high school football career. Senior year my coach moved me from linebacker to defensive end because the tackle for the opposing team was tall and it took him by surprise when a 5'11" 195 pound guy lines up opposite of him. He probably weighed about 250 pounds at best and stood about 6'5". He actually laughed at me and said that he can't believe how small I was and that he couldn't wait to use me on his highlight reel. I just gave a grin and got into position, ball gets snapped and I beat him bad got in the backfield to and took down their quarterback giving me my first sack of the season. This was my first start ever, I normally played only special teams but my coach gave me a chance and I took advantage. The next play resulted in the same outcome helped my teammate into a pass break up, which left them in a third down and long distance to a first. Even though we were only two plays into the game I had made this tackle eat his words. The third down play will haunt me forever, because this play is what made everyone start to believe that I wasn’t' good enough. I got in the back field to meet the running back 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage, and we made contact, I tired frantically to take him down. He slipped through my fingers and ran for almost 85 yards to get within our end zone and set up a scoring drive. That mistake brought doubt into everyone’s mind including my coach. He took me out of the game and benched me till the second half. I beat myself up about it all the way until the second half started. It put me in a mindset of deep failure; my next two plays were just as bad as the missed tackle. The offensive tackle who laughed at me took me to the ground twice in humiliating pancake blocks. I let that one mistake start to ruin my whole tempo. My head coach and teammates gave me a pep talk on the side line and well the rest of that game I did great. I ended that night with 1.5 sacks, 5 solo tackles, and 1 missed tackle. That one missed tackle basically put me on special teams the rest of the year. Since that game I did nothing but practice wrapping up the player and getting a firm grip and taking them to the ground. That one huge mistake where everyone saw it made me the player I am today. Many people doubt me; say I'm too small, not big enough, and not strong enough to play football. That one mistake turned me into a monster, because now I get to play college football, and all I do is work harder and harder. That one mistake replays in my mind over and over, to remind me why people doubt me. That one mistake helped me become a better football player. It showed me my weakness and I focused on that weakness until it became one of my greatest strengths. Failures and mistakes teach us a lot about who we are on the inside, what kind of character we have. Obviously after that mistake, up until my coach came to talk to me, my character was poor and weak. After that mistake, my character is strong and can't be broken. No matter how many times you fail you can always bounce back. You can fall a thousand times, but you will always stand up a thousand and one times. Let your mistakes guide you; I had to learn that the hard way, not only in sports but in education too. Let your mistakes give you that inner drive to prove yourself wrong and your teacher wrong. One grade doesn't determine your whole school year; just like that one bad play didn’t determine the end of my football career. Never give up, if anything when you fail strive that much harder to succeed. Let your mistakes be your motivators, don't let them limit you from the person you can become.

What Matters Most in Life

What matters most in your life? This is a common question people are asked a lot, most of the time it’s a rhetorical question that we hear at funerals. TLU lost a great professor in Dr. Hettinger. When comparing school to athletics, to me Dr. H was one of the most influential coaches in an academic sense. Professors on this campus are influential in their own individual ways, and they are the coaches in the classroom. They are the ones you go to if you have questions about a paper, problem, assignment, etc. As coaches like to see their athletes succeed on the playing field, professors like to see their students succeed academically. The older I get the wiser I become, and when this question about what matters most in my life starts to mean more to me. When I was a freshman in high school I'm sure I would answer that question with football is what matters most in life. Now in a sense I am right, but football is just a game, there is a beginning and an ending. The thing that sticks out to me from that answer is the relationships established from not only football but any sport. Athletes have friends then they have their teammates, and teammates become family. Shoot the more I think about it during the football season I think I saw my teammates more than my actual family. That is the beauty of sports, because the most important learning experience from football is the relationships you established with people who have completely different backgrounds and views than you do. But you can put those aside and walk out on that field to go win a game together or stand up for one another when one gets backed into a corner. What matters most in life are not the things you accomplished or the money you have earned. Sure those are important, but what matters most are the relationships you established. Leaving behind a legacy that you can be proud of, a kind of legacy where people can only say great things about you. Dr. Hettinger did just that, she impacted so many people’s lives in a positive manner that her legacy will forever remain glorious. The funny thing is she took everything I said about football and sports and, without even knowing me, she was able to establish relationships with her students. She created a family with in her classroom. That’s something to be proud of, I wasn’t lucky enough to know Dr. Hettinger but the stories people shared with me really said she was a great person. That’s what matters most in life, how someone can take their job, sport, or whatever and leave a legacy behind like Dr. H did. She impacted so many lives in such a positive way that her legacy will continue to be spread and grow throughout the TLU community and further. Whoever knew Dr. H will carry her story with them to their hometown. Establishing relationships with people and impacting their lives positively so that is how you are remembered that is what matters most in life.

Confidence is Key

I believe confidence is extremely important in anything you plan to do. However, there is a difference in being confident and humble, or confident and cocky. Really confident and humble is the type of attitude needed. Being confident and humble makes you stay in reality, you don't want to be confident in something and get an unrealistic result. For example, I'm a student athlete at Texas Lutheran, while I'm confident in my playing ability out on the football field, I'm also humble knowing that I must give my best effort that the starting position isn't going to be given. The same mentality should be used in academics, however; it's not I get confident in myself and start to become cocky and get unrealistic results. I need to have the same mentality in the classroom and on the football field which is confident and humble. Give your best effort in class and on the field and get ideal results. I know in football I can't just have one good play in practice and be mediocre the rest of the time and expect to play. Just like in class I need to give all myself in order to pull out the grade I am aiming for, one good grade doesn't mean I'm great at school, of course one bad grade doesn't mean I'm bad at school either. But I do believe if you go into class already knowing you’re going to fail a test or paper then you have already defeated yourself. Just like football you can't say man we are going to get crushed in this week’s game because then you will. Positive and confident attitudes lead to positive outcomes, but you must be humble at the same time knowing that you did a great job but more work is needed to maintain that grade. You must prepare yourself for everything you must practice something to become good at it, and do not fear failure, embrace it because then it shows where your weak points are at and you can focus on strengthen them for next time. While I believe confidence is the key to success you must also be humble and thank the Lord for helping you achieve your goal. Through Christ anything is possible but you must put in the work and the effort in order to achieve that goal. So be confident and humble and you will succeed.

Mistakes are for Learning not Repeating

When I sit here and think about "living in the moment" I laugh to myself thinking how is that possible? But I have been doing it for the past four or so years. Being a football player in the game you have to have a short term memory, you can't stress and be upset about a play you should have made. You must move on and focus on the next play, although it's a lot easier said than done. The skill needs to be mastered, move on from messing up they have it on film. So after the game you can go back to the film room and watch yourself to see why you made that mistake and you can fix it to make sure you prevent that mistake from happening again. But taking the focus off of football in general "living in the moment" is easier said than done. Just the past couple months I have had pretty scary experiences in my transition to college. In the month of August just moved into my new home which has a different type of atmosphere. I'm used to hot and humid, where I am at now is hot and dry. But I was hospitalized for dehydration, and my body was so deprived of water that I was diagnosed with Rhabdomyolysis. It's not a very fun sickness, your kidneys get that deprived from water they break down your body. Blood, muscle tissue, muscle fiber, and protein were clogging my kidneys. The doctors said I was about 15 to 20 min away from complete kidney failure and other major problems. Then just a week ago I was visiting home hanging out with friends and we got into a car accident. Even though everyone came out with minor bruises and cuts we got lucky. So when I now think of "living in the moment" I make sure that I don’t worry about how I messed up from yesterday. Everyday isn't promised, tomorrow is a blessing and we shouldn't take it for granted. So don’t worry about the fact you failed a test or did something that you might regret. The great thing about being blessed with another tomorrow is the fact it's a second chance to make up for the mistake you made in the past. So now I have a better grasp of the phrase "live in the moment" to me it's forgetting yesterday, and continue to pursue your dreams!

Playmakers in the Classroom

When we hear the term playmaker we automatically think of sports. Each team has a certain player that the fans trust to put the team on his/her back to win the game. For example, Tim Tebow is a playmaker, I really have no idea how that guy does what he does. But one thing about Tebow beside his strong faith and Godliness, Tim doesn't know the word can't. That word isn't in his dictionary, the guy loves the sport of football, and he is the 2007 Heisman trophy winner, has two National championships under his belt 2006 and 2008. Critics said he would never play Quarterback in the NFL; well he was the 25th overall pick in the 2010 NFL draft by the Denver Broncos. Me being one of the many people who said Tebow "can't" play quarterback in the NFL he went to prove most critics including myself wrong. He works hard on and off the field, he is a playmaker. However, playmakers aren’t' always on an athletic field of some sort, playmakers can be in the classroom. We have all had that one kid who reminds the teacher of homework you didn't do but they did. It happened to me a lot, and you can do one of two things about it. You can continue to not do your homework and threaten the kid who reminds her or you can change your habits and do your work. To me that person most commonly known as a "suck up" is really a playmaker in the classroom. They work hard to get that A and they technically force everyone in the class to do better as well. So it is possible to be a playmaker in the classroom. On the field in high school I was a source of motivation, my teammates loved my work ethic and mentality to never quit. They would always feed off of that positive energy to go out on the field and perform. See I never really played my senior year of football in High School, but I knew my role on the team. That was to always be a source of motivation when my teammates needed it. That motivation not only helped my teammates but also gave me a chance to play at the college level. I became a mental playmaker, if you will, and I use that mentality in the classroom as well as on the field and weight room. I know what it takes to be a playmaker on the field, and from that kid in high school I also know what it means to be a playmaker in the classroom. So consider this, you don't need to play a sport to be considered a playmaker, you just need to always be determined to do your best. At the end of the day you want to have that satisfaction of knowing I gave it all today. That is what being a playmaker is all about is striving to do your best every day.

New Challenges Await

I have always looked forward to going to college for these reasons, a new found freedom, independence, chance to start over, and many more. However, with the reasons of being excited about college, there are also new challenges of college. One it's hard to be away from my family and friends back home. My sister is close by, as she attends Texas State, so it makes moving to college a little bit easier. I don't get homesick as much because I can drive and hang out with my sister. It's still hard transitioning though; you have to do things you normally aren’t used to doing because your mom did it. For me the new thing is doing my own laundry, you have to work in time to do laundry. That's another big problem Time Management. You wake up during the week to go to the classes you have scheduled that day, whether it’s two or three, and then if you’re in athletics you have practice after classes. Most athletics have a set time for study hall to, so you can work on home work and other stuff there. Whatever you don't finish in study hall you have to do on your own, so responsibility plays a big role now too. If you aren’t really responsible in high school just know that is not going to fly in college. If you have bad study habits you better break them, and if you wait to the last minute to do stuff you better change that too. College is a whole new world; there are a ton of fun things to do in college, not necessarily going to parties’ twenty-four/seven. But exploring different areas of education, and exploring your new surroundings. Take a day during your weekend to just drive around and get acclimated to your new home. You will be living here for four years so better acclimate quickly. Because when you get sick, mom and dad aren’t here to take care of you, you have to take care of yourself. College really is a cool experience and I don’t want to alarm anyone, just be warned that after high school, college is tremendously different.

Planning for the Future

When brought up the subject about "What do you plan to do for your future?” Most people can tell that person off the top of their head what they plan to do. But, for others that question is not so easy to answer. For example, I have been asked that question multiple times especially in high school. Teachers mainly are the ones to ask this question, but also family, friends, classmates, teammates, and coaches ask this question too. See I used to be the person who could answer that question rather quickly and change the subject. I was so focused on going to the University of Texas at Austin, and studying in Architecture. While I studied Architecture I planned on playing football for the Longhorns also. However, I never set up goals on how to achieve that dream. As my senior year dawned on me, and football at UT was just an old thing of the past, I started planning realistic goals to achieve. Saying I'm going to focus more on school work rather than football, just to see where that will lead me. Now I still kept thinking about playing football just not at the Division 1 level. TLU was a great fit just because I could study at a University and play football. But, TLU doesn't have an Architecture program, now I'm here stuck trying to figure out what to study. So I started making goals, as of right now my goals are to focus on my studies for my freshman year and end with above a 3.5 GPA. At the same time I want to dive into other programs just to see what that field of study may look like. College has opened my eyes a lot, and even though I have no idea what my future holds, I still make goals for each week. Some of my goals for this week are reading for my Frex course, and getting an A in Algebra. Goals are still important to make, without them people wouldn't be able to shape their lives or the lives they want to lead. Goals are important in sports but they are also extremely important in life in general. They do not have to be impossible goals, some can be easy, and some can be a little challenging. Just make goals that are worth achieving and can be achieved.

A new Beginning

People always told me, "You better change your study habits and your effort in school! College is going to kick your butt if you don't change." I just nodded my head in agreement so they would leave me alone. I thought my study habits were fine, well okay maybe they weren't fine. They probably were not even close to being okay. My study habits in High School were well below mediocre. But i thought everyone's were. I was wrong, see I had two groups of friends; like in my last post about students, and athletes, well I had friends in both. Let me tell you the difference with that see the friends that were just students always study even if it was seniorities and they didn’t want they still did. Now, the athletes, we didn’t have a care in the world. We would seriously just take a few notes, and then skim over the chapter(s) the night before the test. That would get us the low to mid 80's for a grade, our teachers would tell us we need to fix our study habits before college. I never wanted to believe them; I always told my friends we have classes on different days and stuff. Some days you might have three some days you might have two. It all depends on how many hours you are taking. Well while I was right about the classes, I was terribly wrong about not changing my study habits. College is so different from high school in so many ways, studying being the most important. But you also HAVE to read, you can't just go to spark notes and read the chapter summaries. You actually have to read the book itself. College also gives you homework that sometimes won't be due till the next week. You have to be smart and just get it done. You have so much free time in college you might as well do all your work that you’re given, including the reading work. That is the transition from high school to college that is pretty tough. Being responsible enough to do your work when no one is around to tell you too is the main transition.

Athlete Mentality Could Benefit Students

There are two different people when it comes to school, whether its Middle, High, or College. There are many students that roam the halls of the school. You have the many different social groups that people put themselves in, but, there are really only two groups. There are those who walk the halls and do their classwork, then go home and study and do homework. We call that group students, they are a one dimension type student. Not saying that's a bad thing. Then, you have those who stay after school and put in extra work. However, the extra work may not be in school instead it's on the football field, track, baseball field, softball field, tennis court, basketball court, or on the golf course. These students are called student athletes; they have to build up this strong mentality. Once they build it they focus on mastering it, because if you don't have a strong mental game you will fall for anything. Athletes have to mentally tough; if they are not then the work they put in could be a waste. They have to go out there during their game with the mentality of my team is the best; I'm mentally tough I can handle this game. When it starts to get rough and they have to grind more than their opponent that is when mentality kicks in. It's the fourth quarter, your body is sore, your body is weak, but your mind is strong your mentality says I got this lets fight tooth and nail for each yard. Athletes rely on their mentally game cause it's a last resort if you will. When it gets tough and too hard, athletes who aren't mentally tough break, while the ones who are mentally tough hold the trophies and championships. Now for the comparison, the first group the students, they have to have the same mental toughness as athletes do. They set their mind on getting all A's and focus their mentality on that the whole year. Those students who are mentally tough will go that extra mile when studying or writing a paper. Just like athletes in games your body and sometimes mind gets weak, but if you are mentally tough you will find a way to persevere. Students can utilize mental toughness for themselves too, when they have been studying for four or five hours and their mind is weak and tired, they dig down deep and reach for that mental toughness and study for another hour. When writing a paper they do the same thing, prompt says an essay of 800 to a 1,000 words the write 1,500 to 2,000 words of in depth material. So really to me, students have their own mental toughness that they utilize. However, they utilize it home working on school work, or in the classroom, when athletes utilize it on the field of their sport. That’s what mental game means to me, as a student athlete finding the strength when you have nothing left, so you can continue to fight for the fourth quarter to win the game. I can relate it to my performance in school, because one I need to keep good grades so I’m eligible to play, and two because I know myself that school work comes first. So I put in the same amount if not more effort into my school work as I do on the football field. I think my explanation of students and student athletes shows that each has its own mental game