Nobody likes to admit they made a mistake. In our society, professing your failure has become a deadly option. We believe it is best to sweep as much under the rug as possible, focusing only on our victories. Maybe this is because of how easy it is to point out another person’s error. Maybe if we could learn the process of forgiveness, people would own up to their actions. But until we do, it will be nearly impossible to have a truly honest society.
I used to live strictly by this system, hiding all shame. I have been raised under the argument that anything less that 100% success is ultimate failure. This applied to every aspect of my life: grades, sports, friendships, family, and anything else I was involved in. If I wasn’t the best, it seemed like the effort was worthless. I have come from a very competitive background, and this was just the way it has always been.
However, I have been leaning towards a new perspective lately. What if people admitted their mistakes, and moved on? What if, instead of trying to hide their problems, they were able to work through them with people who really cared? If someone had proposed this to me a few months ago, I would have laughed in their face. What a ridiculous idea. But now, I’m starting to like it. I’m not going to lie, a lot of this has to do with our new basketball coach, Coach Colter. He has challenged our team in so many ways to be better individuals. I used to think what I did was not important, and that even if I made mistakes, they only affected me. And I couldn’t have been more wrong.
It took Coach Colter for me to finally realize that we, as seniors, are the leaders of this school. Everyone looks up to us, imitates us on a regular basis. As a senior captain of our girls’ basketball team, I hold several very crucial futures in my hands. I have two options. One, I can be like the seniors of the past. I can run over those girls and put them in their place, show them the true meaning of being a freshman. Or I can take the higher road, and be their friend. I can help them through their issues, one step at a time. I can listen when they need me. When it seems to them like nobody else really cares in the world, I can be the one person to prove them wrong. And that starts by admitting that I screw up sometimes myself. I may be a senior, but I have my rough moments as well. After all, it is much easier to admit your problems to someone you know shares them. This has made me realize that I can either be a friend these young girls look up to, not just an older member of the team. I finally have the power to make a difference in many impressionable lives, and that’s what I intend to do.