Why Commitment Is Healthy - Emma Dwyer
Commitment is not easy when you're trying something new, but it can be difficult when you're balancing obligations at a young age. Student Emma Dwyer tells her story of how work hard and commitment has helped shape her life.
For most of my life I have participated in sports. Aside from being fun, athletics teaches a healthy lifestyle of encouraging kids to get up and move and eat healthy. But with a CDA schedule, balancing school and athletics can be challenging.
I started playing volleyball in seventh grade after years of my parents trying to convince me to play. There are a lot of things I love about playing volleyball, but two of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from playing are the importance of working hard and what it means to make a commitment.
I started playing volleyball in seventh grade after years of my parents trying to convince me to play. There are a lot of things I love about playing volleyball, but two of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from playing are the importance of working hard and what it means to make a commitment.
As with any sport, my first season with volleyball was hard, and at times embarrassing. Volleyball is a very technical sport, which means learning how to play is confusing and frustrating all at once. The slightest move of your wrist or position of your feet can change the entire play, which makes learning a very slow process.
It is also a very fast paced game leaving little time to think about what to do before you react. But once you finally start to get the steps down and learn to respond with the right reactions, there is an indescribable feeling that comes from doing something very technical without thinking. Volleyball is not something you can pick up overnight.
I usually catch on to new things fairly quickly, so it definitely took its turn frustrating me. But in the end, playing volleyball has taught me that putting hard work into something makes it a thousand times more enjoyable when you finally succeed. If it comes easy, it will fade, but if you worked hard through the frustration you will never forget the feeling of finally getting it right.
The hardest aspect of volleyball for me is the one that any Coram Deo athlete feels almost required to mention, time management. Needless to say, that has been my biggest challenge when it comes to playing a sport and balancing a CDA schedule.
However, one thing I have learned from this is the importance of focusing on what is happening in the current moment. At the beginning of the season I make a commitment to my team, and anyone who plays a team sport understands that unless every player makes a commitment to work hard the team has very little chance for success. It doesn’t matter what tests I have tomorrow, or how much homework I have, when I step on the court the only thing that matters is playing my best for my team.
In the same way, when I do study for those tests and start that homework the only thing that matters is that I commit to doing my best. What it comes down to it any sport is a commitment, and playing volleyball has definitely taught me to stay true to my commitments whether it’s to my team or myself.
Volleyball, since it is so technical, is a very involved sport. Your entire body has a purpose with every motion. Because of that, it can be hard to learn, but it is well worth all the work put in. Balancing volleyball and CDA is a challenge all on its own, but in addition to teaching time management I’ve found it taught me the importance of commitments as well.
In all, I encourage you to try volleyball because although it is a team sport, it teaches the value of the individual within the team as well. How hard each person works decides how well the team does, and how committed you are to your team can completely change the game.
Date Posted 
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Damien Lopez4/17/2017 @ 1:58 AMBetter than Roman Reigns, nuff said.
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Kristi Presley10/9/2016 @ 4:06 PMVery good article and I ?? the person you are Emma!!
