Overcoming Adversity: The Scots-Irish Tradition
The Biography
Throughout my life, I have never been concerned about my family history. My parents have never emphasized it as something important to think about, and as a result I have not done so. My parents have always wanted me to be happy but also disciplined. One of the main ways they were able accomplish this was by having me play sports, which provided both happiness and discipline. I have loved playing sports for as long as I can remember, and I still love them, even though I no longer participate in them competitively.
Flashback to the summer before my senior year of high school. Going into that summer, I knew that the upcoming year would be my last year playing sports competitively seeing as I would be graduating from high school afterwards. With this in mind, I decided to go all out training for the upcoming year. I worked out four to five days per week every week.
Heading into the fall, I was in the best shape of my life. I could jump higher, run faster, and lift more weight than at any other point in my life. The sport I played in the fall was volleyball, and our team was favored to win the championship that year with me as our second best player.
Things unfortunately did not work out as I had planned. I was injured early in the season with a stress fracture in my leg. I was out for about a month. Roughly a week after I returned, I got a concussion and would be out indefinitely. Not only did I miss the rest of the season, but I was unable to attend school for three months. My life was a living hell during that period.
I started attending school again just as the volleyball season was wrapping up. I got to travel down with my teammates and watch them compete for a championship while I sat on the sidelines. Sitting there and watching my team win the championship without me was one of the hardest things I have ever had to sit through. I wanted to be happy for my teammates, but the truth is that I knew that I would never have the opportunity to experience what they had just experienced for the rest of my life.
I felt very left-out because of my concussion. I could not play sports, go to school, or even hang out with my friends. Getting back into the rhythm of things was hard, and I had to sit for hours by myself at school making up the work I had missed.
I also missed the first quarter of my basketball season. Even when I did come back, I was in terrible shape; nowhere near the athlete I was at the end of the summer. I was expected to start that season, but my spot was taken while I was injured, and I was never able to get it back. Although I got to contribute more than for volleyball, I once again had to watch my season slip away as I sat on the bench and watched my team win another championship without me. It was pretty devastating, and I was pretty depressed because of the whole experience.
That experience was hard, but you know what? If I could go back and change things, I wouldn’t. Going through that experience made me a better person. I am more appreciative of things, and I do not get disappointed just because things don’t work out the way I hope they will. I am better prepared to take on similar challenges in the future.
The Scots-Irish, my ancestors, have been challenged constantly throughout history. They were driven from their homeland by war more than once. This hardship has formed the Scots-Irish into a self-reliant people that have been able accomplished great things in America because of their ability to overcome challenges.
Since my concussion, which was almost 3 years ago, my life has been nothing short of amazing. I got a girlfriend, I got to take a gap year and travel the world, and now I get to attend the University of Georgia, which is ridiculously fun. I have been enjoying life to the fullest. It is amazing how my experiences with overcoming adversity can be reflected so well in the history of the Scots-Irish. Seeing these relationships and connections between myself, my family, and the history of my ancestors has really made me appreciate my family history in a way that I had never thought possible.
