Confidence

Confidence is a characteristic that every person needs to have. It is something that allows people to many things. Having confidence makes the things you do in life, no matter how hard the task or how big the obstacle, reachable. Confidence gives one courage to step outside of their normal comfort zone and try something new. People with a lack of confidence seem to live a bland life. They do not take risks or do things that are abnormal to them. I believe that over time, my confidence in myself has continually been increasing, from all the things I've done in my life such as sports or being in a school environment. One of the things that has recently increased my confidence was my first soccer game at TLU. Before my first game I was unsure if I would be able to play soccer at the collegiate level. I mean I have great faith in my capabilities, but this being my first time to experience it first hand made me wonder.  After my first game my eyes had been opened to a new world of skill. But the way I preformed in the game made me very excited because I saw that I was capable of playing at the collegiate level. This event greatly boosted my confidence and gave me motive to keep going and keep improving my sports career. Similar situations these present themselves in the classroom, such as struggling in my math class. Calculus is very confusing and difficult for me to understand. Not succeeding in calculus like I am use to in other subjects such as history or science really makes me work hard to keep my confidence up. But when I go to my teacher for extra help and he is able to explain what we are learning in ways I better understand. Reaching the point where I can be confident in my ability to solve math problems makes me happier than a little kid getting candy. I am very thankful for everything that has happened throughout my life that has given me the ability to continually increase my confidence in myself and the things I do. I would like to offer a strategy for those who are having a hard time finding confidence - Take whatever aspect of life you are struggling with and take baby steps to work your way up, which allows you to slowly increase your confidence.

Focus and Concentration continued

As an athlete the ability to maintain a high level of focus and concentration throughout the sport or activity is a very difficult task to achieve. Even having years of practice, the best athletes succumb to having mental relapses causing them to lose their focus and concentration for a period of time. When these relapses occur athletes are vulnerable of committing careless mistakes because they are not fully present in the situation going on around them. Playing soccer has made it very easy to see what a huge impact these two skills play. Since soccer as a whole is mainly mental. Players must be mentally strong to apply the focus and concentration needed to preform the high degree of coordination soccer requires. Without this players would be continually tripping over their own feet implying a sense of clumsiness. Making the transition from the soccer player mindset to the student mindset is very easy because the ability to focus and concentrate learned from being a soccer player allows me to preform well in the classroom. When I am studying for my classes I often find that I need to be somewhere quiet to help me focus. Since my brain rapidly shifts from idea to idea it makes getting distracted very easy. A quiet environment takes many factors that could potentially pose a problem as a distraction, out of the question. Quiet places give me the opportunity to have a sense of peace and calm which benefits to my learning. Isolation is also something I have to force myself to do because it is always more enjoyable when you have someone working with you towards the same goal. Giving up this luxury of having someone to study with is difficult but in the long run is a very smart decision. When I am working alone I find it helpful to close my eyes for a moment, and ask myself if I am doing the right things to succeed and making the most of my time studying. Asking these questions help me to regain my focus and continue with my studying ensuring that I am taking care of business and getting my class work done.