Growing up, I never really understood how people tolerated playing sports or exercising. Every sport I attempted through grade school just felt like something I was supposed to do to stay in shape and to use up my time. Like many parents, they encouraged, and sometimes forced, me to make my rounds on the popular US contact sports. Soccer in pre-k, softball in kindergarten, volleyball in first and second grade, and then basketball for the foreseeable future. Don’t get me wrong, I remain very grateful and fortunate that my parents were able to give me the opportunity to find what I loved, but contact sports were not my forte. I remember requesting a chance to try gymnastics or martial arts, but my parents always told me I was too tall for these activities (Yes, you read that right. I don’t understand this line of logic to this day. I really think that my parents were hoping I had some of my mom’s basketball or volleyball abilities tucked inside of me that had yet to break through.).
By the time I got to high school, I had tried out track and cross country, and I decided I preferred sports that were focused on self improvement rather than team success. So I tolerated running and jumping for the first two years of high school, but then I quit my junior year because I finally convinced myself they weren’t worth my time since they weren’t making me happy.
The more I look back on it, the year I quit sports was also the first year that I had my car, ergo allowing me to control when could go home. Between all of my siblings and my parents’ work schedules, if I wasn’t participating in something after school, I would just be waiting around until someone could pick me up, usually around 5 or 6 pm. Once I obtained my car, I could get myself home directly after school, so I had no incentive to keep busy with activities I didn’t want to be doing. While I always longed to be one of the kids whose parents picked them up right after school and who played club sports, I think my situation enriched my character and kept me humble. Sports, even the ones I didn’t care for, taught me resilience and discipline, so being forced to do them for so many years is something I wouldn’t take back.
After not doing any school sports for the last two years of high school, I lost a bit of my thunder and speed, both of which I didn’t really mind since I was focused on graduating. The summer before my senior year, however, I was able to try out rock climbing at the Jeffrey S. Raikes School Innovate: the Raikes Way summer camp in which I attended. I fell in love with the challenge of climbing; it was a puzzle for the mind and the body. The day after climbing, I remember feeling sorer than I had in my entire life- and I was amazed at how scrambling up some fake rocks could impact my entire body in such a dramatic way.
Unfortunately, I would not be able to rock climb again until my summer at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, Colorado, but I hit the wall hard when I gained access to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln climbing gym that August during my first semester of college.
Although I still have yet to fully commit to trying out gymnastics or martial arts, I knew rock climbing was going to be a sport I pursued with passion because I didn’t have to force myself to do it. I can get up for the day and be excited to climb a route I haven’t before, or to try a wall that seemed too formidable weeks ago. Running and contact sports always felt like a chore to me, but climbing feels effortless and rewarding. Although I am still young in my rock climbing journey, I am already so proud of myself for finally finding a sport that allows me to enjoying exercising my body and my mind, and I hope that I can stick to it for many more years.
Awesome reading Trin!!
Loved reading this. Finding your passion in exercise is important. This is how running feels to me. FYI, fir me, basketball in High School felt like a chore too!