Encouraging others.

“Everyone find a partner” says my coach. We are about to start the 8th grade weight training. The coach says to make the kids feel welcome when they come in. When the 8th graders walked in the door, I saw the nervous in their eyes. When I saw them I could remember myself the year before when I was doing the same thing.

I remember coming to Granger High School coming for 8th grade lifting. I felt nervous coming in thinking I would get lost. I felt nervous walking in and meeting the coach. I did not feel welcome due to everyone was bigger than I was. I did not want to mess up and get laughed at in front of all of the people.

The second time I went was a lot better than the first time I went. I was not afraid to walk into the room and see all the big people. I thought to myself, If that kid could do it then I could do it. I went to my parter that I had last time and I felt a little bit more confident. I was still nervous but I felt better.

As bad as I tried to not mess up, it happened. I felt embarrassed that it happened that I did not want to come again. Then a player said “good job, you are getting better”. I felt better about myself getting better. I started to feel better that people said “good job”, instead of saying “get out”.

When I came back to reality, I realized that the kid in front of me, was just like me. When he was done with his reps I told him “good job man, you are getting better”. Once I start encouraging them, they started to feel better. I also felt good about myself about being able to help them feel more confident. I can hear them praising one to another. I could see that they are not getting down on themselves.

Submitted by Anonymous

Encouragement