Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
My life has been going really well and smoothly before the covid-19 pandemic came. Every weekday, I would go to school and after school, I would go out and practice golf. On weekends, I would either go to golf tournaments or go outside with my family and friends. This would be my routine over and over again. During that time, I had no idea of what my future would be like and was just living my life. But one day, suddenly, the government announced that there would be lockdowns and schools would be closed without any exact date of opening again. This situation changed the routine of my life and changed the way I think about life. It also helped me realize my goals for the future.
Golf has been part of the routine in my daily life and before the pandemic, I couldn’t imagine how my life would be like if I had to stop playing golf. I started playing golf at the age of 9 and decided to play competitive golf at 12. When I first start to play, I didn’t know the reason why my parents wanted me to play. But after starting to play competitive golf, I had a dream that I wanted to become a professional golfer and win lots of tournaments. Every day after school, I would go and practice golf for about two to three hours.
After grade 7, my parents decided to move me to a new school because my school doesn’t have a golf team. They moved me because they saw that my goals became clearer so they wanted me to improve faster as the school has golf coaches and is near the golf course.
The first day I came into this school, I felt that this school would be the school that would help me achieve my goals. The school has a golf team and has a private chipping and putting greens in front of the school. The environment in this school was also very good. The coaches would always be encouraging me to be improving on my golf game while my friends in the team would always help me out since I am new to the school. Everything went really well until three years later, the pandemic came.
During the pandemic, I was staying at home for about three months and did not have a chance to practice golf since all courses were closed. Tournaments were also canceled for until further notice. At first, I felt really bad and really wanted to go out and practice. But after a few weeks, I became used to the new life. Everyday, I would have to wake up for online classes and then after school I would be staying at home instead of going to practice. After the pandemic, I went back for golf tournaments and did not do as well as before the pandemic. I felt really stressed out and did not have the passion anymore to play tournaments. I still had to play in tournaments because I would need it to help me get into colleges.
One day, I had a chance to talk to a person who made me realize what I wanted for my future. She told me that if I didn’t really want to play that much golf I should go to NCAA division 3. In that division, there would be many colleges that are good academically and golf in that division wouldn’t be tough. This helped me realize that this would be a good choice for me as I would have a chance to get into a good school while also getting to play golf at the same time. After that talk, I decided to go and tells my parents about it and they agreed with the idea. I would also have to come back and get serious about my studies to achieve this goal.
From that day onwards, I became less serious about my golf game and more serious about my studies. I also still had to go to golf tournaments so that I can make a portfolio for golf. Although the pandemic may be a horrible situation for me, it helped me realize the goals for my future and a better understanding of myself.