Digital Editor Lea D’Angelo works on a piece of writing. Growing up, D’Angelo participated in multiple sports and extracurricular activities, and despite quitting each, was still able to find lessons from the time she spent in them. “I did eventually quit. Maybe I could have become a runner, a dancer, a gymnast. But I didn’t, and that’s okay. Because now I’m a reader, a journalist, a pianist, and I still use the lessons I learned from all those dreaded hours,” D’Angelo wrote. Illustration by Kimberly Sanabria-Amaya
Digital Editor Lea D’Angelo discusses her experiences in extracurriculars she didn’t enjoy and the lessons she learned from them.
“Just tough it out.”
A sentiment that can be harmful when it comes to activities that have a negative impact on your physical or mental health, which are situations where toughing it out isn’t always an option.
But what if it’s something you just don’t like?
I didn’t enjoy gymnastics, ballet, swim, track or softball, yet I “toughed it out” for each of them, if only for the sake of my parents. I didn’t enjoy cross country, gymnastics, chorus or tap, yet my elementary and middle school years were filled with them, an attempt at not letting anyone down.
Just because I didn’t like it or was scared didn’t mean I didn’t learn something from it.
Some of the dislike boiled down to fear – I didn’t swing the bat once during a softball game in fourth grade because I was too busy fearing the bright yellow object flying straight toward my face – but there was also a lack of passion.
But my parents insisted I couldn’t quit just because I didn’t like something.
It wasn’t until I found activities I was passionate about towards the end of middle school– writing, playing piano, reading – that I realized why that was.
Just because I didn’t like it or was scared didn’t mean I didn’t learn something from it.
A graphic shows the various sports Digital Editor Lea D’Angelo did in elementary and middle school. Though she learned lessons from each, she also quit them due to fear and a lack of passion. “I didn’t enjoy gymnastics, ballet, swim, track or softball, yet I “toughed it out” for each of them, if only for the sake of my parents. I didn’t enjoy cross country, gymnastics, chorus or tap, yet my elementary and middle school years were filled with them, an attempt at not letting anyone down,” D’Angelo wrote. Graphic by Lea D’Angelo
In seventh grade, I spent most of my time on the track team at East Jackson Middle School, wishing I could be anywhere else. Yet, amidst all the jogging (which I hated) and the sprinting (which I was bad at), I learned how to be part of a team, a cliquey, awkward team at that, but what wasn’t in middle school?
I cried at the thought of going to swim practice at the Athens YMCA in fifth grade, but it was where I learned that being competitive didn’t mean I had to be completely confident in what I was doing, I just had to try.
I did eventually quit. Maybe I could have become a runner, a dancer, a gymnast. But I didn’t, and that’s okay.
Because now I’m a reader, a journalist, a pianist, and I still use the lessons I learned from all those dreaded hours – Confidence. Being part of a team. Overcoming my fears.
Tough it out.
You might learn some things.
