Enhanced Resume -Editing by Diane Scheurell

I can’t believe I’m sidelined again. Despite my good grades and study habits, I’ve been a jock all my life – a good one. And then, bam – my knees go bad – again.

The winter of 2007 was bliss. Thump, Thump, Thump the sound of the dribble echoes as we pass the ball up the court. Shuffling shoes make squeaking noises. Tick, Tick, Tick, the minutes become seconds and the score reads 13 to 11. We are behind. Panic is in the air. We are tired, thirsty, sweaty, yet unwilling to give up: 45, 44…30 seconds left on the clock. Then TWEET as the referee announces a time out. Huffing and puffing the players quickly gathered in huddles like penguins. Time’s up; let’s play. Tension mounts as I get the ball with seconds on the clock. I feel like I’m watching from outside my body: I shoot the ball; it glides over heads towards the basket; swoosh - the ball makes a swift pass through the hoop and the clock reads 5 seconds. We scream with excitement as if the Super Bowl was on. Are we tied? No – it was a three pointer – my first! After a quick time out, the clock counts down to zero and the horn gives a loud EEEEEERRRRKK booming off the walls of the gym. It was done and the score was 14 to 13. My three point shot had won my team their first basketball tournament.

If 2007 was bliss, 2008, was pure hell when a painful injury to my knees caused me to sit on the bench. Deeply angered and frustrated I watched my teammates struggle while I sat unable to assist them. But physical therapy helped me regain my strength and get myself back in shape for track season.

For the next three years, I focused on volleyball and track. In volleyball I wasn’t afraid to dive and dig balls. Being the shortest and one of the most aggressive players, I had the honor of playing the position of middle back. In track my favorite event was a team event: the four by one-hundred relay. The pact of this team and hard work brought us to sectionals. There was nothing that could stop me, now that I was pain free. I was sure my future was in sports in some way.

Last year, the pain was back. Excruciating and constant I went from one specialist to another. But no one could find a cause, so there was no “cure,” though physical therapy again helped.

It seemed as if nothing good could come from this experience, but it did. Because of my love of athletics and my direct experience with physical therapy, I found my calling. I intend to pursue kinesiology in college. I am confident I will do well. I have attended two very challenging college preparatory schools where I have maintained a strong academic standing. I do so by working diligently and efficiently on my assignments. However, I’m not perfect - I do have my weak points. One of the most difficult challenges I face is standardized timed testing. There’s something about quickly having to understand the questions I have to answer that makes me nervous. My work style is characterized by researching problems and looking things up to obtain a better understanding of the topic. My mind works through issues methodically as I tend to take a longer approach. Even though I do skip over these difficult questions on the timed tests and save them for later, I still end up running out of time.

Looking towards the future, I hope to be admitted into a school where not only will I be able to excel academically but to also prepare myself for the business world. My dad always says to me, “Go where you can get the best education for yourself.” I want to be able to learn new things and open my world to all sorts of possibilities. In pursuing the major of Kinesiology, I will be researching careers in Athletic Training, Physical Therapy, and Physical Education.

While I will not be an athlete myself, these careers will allow me to help others get or be in shape physically, recover from injury, or better themselves as athletes. That’s rewarding too.

It was the winter of 2007 when it all happened. Thump, Thump, Thump the sound of the dribble echoing off the floor as the ball passes up the court. The sounds of shuffling shoes skidded across the floor making squeaking noises. Tick, Tick, Tick, as the minutes become seconds and the score reads 13 to 11. Panic is in the air. Players are tired, thirsty, sweaty, yet unwilling to give up. 45…44…30 seconds left on the clock. Then tweet as the referee announced a time out. Huffing and puffing like trains the players quickly gathered in huddles like penguins. Time’s up. Let’s play. Tension amounts as the ball is being dragged from one side to another and the time continues to count down. The player is trapped, but she keeps pushing down the court. Suddenly the ball is shot. It glides over the heads towards the basket inching closer and closer. Finally, thump the ball makes a swift pass right through the hoop as the clock reads .53 seconds left in the game. The reaction was full of screams and shouts of excitement as if the super bowl was on. After a quick time out the game finished as the clock counted down to zero with a loud EEEEEERRRRKK announcing the end of the game as it boomed off the walls of the gym. It was done and the score was 13 to 15. My three point shot had won my team their first basketball tournament. The feeling was overwhelming as tears of joy and sadness flowed from everyone’s eyes. After hard work and dedication my team did it and went for gold.

Over the next few years from middle school to high school, I help contribute my talent and commitment to the one passion I had: sports. Through volleyball I served as one of the valuable players diving and digging balls trying to keep them from hitting the floor. Being the shortest player, I had the honor of playing the position of middle back. My aggressive defensive helped contribute to the game. In track I participated in individual and team events. My favorite event was the four by one-hundred relay. With this event teamwork consisted of four runners and one goal. This pact and hard work brought my team to sectionals. Though our hearts were crushed our honor and achievement lived on.

Sports had been my dream ever since I first hit the court. From that moment on all I wanted to do was compete, play, and have fun. However, my dream was struck when a painful injury to my knees caused me to put aside my passion. Deeply anger and frustrated as if my world had been crushed by a rock, I sat on the bench and watched my team. It pained me to see my teammates struggle while I sat unable to assist them. Halfway through the basketball season, I went to physical therapy to regain my strength and get myself back out there. Soon after a few months of therapy, I found myself back, but this time for track season.

For the next three years, I was back to sports. I remember diving towards the floor like loon diving for fish, and running on the track like a race horse flying through the wind. There was nothing that could stop me, now that I was pain free. When my junior year started up, unfortunately so did my knee pain. This time the pain was unbelievable excruciating as the stabbing feeling would not leave. Every time I walked the pain would worsen. By the time I crawled into bed my knees had collapsed along with the rest of my body. So with the mysterious pain back, I went through a series of steps from one specialist to another. After several tests, the result was unsuccessful. There was no “cure” to the abomination that had infected my knees. As I went through this journey, all I felt was more anger. I couldn’t believe my life was ruined again. Why did this happen?

Though it seemed as if nothing would come from this experience, something did. Because of my devotion to athletics, I have been inspired to work diligently in school to pursue kinesiology. In school, I’m characterized by my friends as “miss goody-two shoes” because all I do is work, work, and work. I have attended two very challenging and prestigious college preparatory schools where have maintained a strong academic standing. I do so by working diligently and efficiently on my assignments. However, I’m not a perfect student as I do have my weak points. One of the most difficult challenges I’ve faced in my educational years has been standardized timed testing. There’s something about understanding the questions I have to answer quickly that makes me nervous. My work type is characterized by researching problems and looking things up to obtain a better understanding of what I’m struggling with. Unlike most students who can think fast, my mind tends to pick up things slower as I tend to take a longer approach. Even though I do skip over these difficult questions and save them for later, I still end up running out of time.

Looking towards the future, I hope to be admitted into a school where not only will I be able to excel academically but to also prepare myself for the business world. My dad always says to me, “Go where you can get the best education for yourself,” and with all my strength and ability I will do so. I want to be able to learn new things and open my world to all sorts of possibilities that are out there. In pursuing the major of Kinesiology, I’m also researching in the possible fields of Athletic Training, Physical Therapy, and Physical Education. It will help me do something enjoyable. That wonderful pleasure is helping others. The only way to help myself was to extend a hand and help others. From community projects to volunteer services, I have been able to help other people on their roads to recovery.

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