Those Who Have Influened Me

There have been quite a few people that have influenced my life in many different ways. Some may have been little things, and some may have been big things. But they all have done a part to change my life. Two main people come to my mind when I think of this, though.

My middle school Physical Education teacher, Mrs. Weller, has influenced me in many ways. I am a junior in high school now, and I can still go to her about anything. She will always be there for me. She supports  the team and I in volleyball, always puts my family in her prayers, and is just someone I can talk to. Mrs. Weller is one of those people who will always be kind to you. This has showed me that you shouldn't judge people, and you should always give someone a chance. To get respect you have to earn it. Another thing that is actually kind of silly to think about is that she has given me hope with my sports. I remember when she told us that she had played volleyball in college as an outside hitter. I got so excited because that is my position, and I always thought that I was too short to go any further than high school. But she isn't much taller than I am! So she showed me that with hard work and determination, you can achieve many goals that you hadn't even dreamed of.

The person who has influenced my life the most is my dad. He is one of the most hard working people I know. He always does his best to do everything he can for my family. My dad is one of the reasons that my brothers and I have pretty good success with sports. He will research all he can to find out ways for us to get better. I mean sometimes I do complain, because I tend to get a bit lazy sometimes. But it has all worked out in the end. Recently, we were informed that he had a tumor in his brain. And of course instead of having us sit in the hospital with him, he made us go to school and all of our sporting events. His favorite thing to hear us talk about when we came to visit were our sports. He would get the biggest smile on his face when we would say something good. If it was something bad, he would just say something about how it happens and we just need to fix it. I remember that I came into the hospital room fuming because we had just lost to Moline, and we totally should have won. I freaked out and just laughed at me. I was so upset. I yelled "Why are you laughing?! It's not funny!" But I realize now that this taught me a huge lesson in life. There will always be ups and downs in life, but you just have to go with it. If you live your life in sadness, anger, or fear, then you aren't getting much out of it. So even though my dad is going through this, he always looks for the positive things. This has taught me the biggest lesson of my life. There are always people who have it worse out there. So embrace what you have, and make the most of it.