My junior year of high school was a tough one for me, especially during the fall semester. It was a really tough year academically. I did not do well on my SATs when I took them, and when I retook them several months later I did even worse. I started of the year with a C- in Spanish, one of my worst subjects, by far. My US history teacher hated me and told me I should switch out of his class from day one. I thought AP chemistry was going to be awesome but it became so much work I didn’t know what to do with myself. Some other things didn’t go my way either.
I didn’t make the starting position on the varsity football team, like I had wanted. I met this really great girl though. She was everything I wanted in a friend: funny, sweet, sharing, helpful, all that stuff. And eventually we started dating. Things looked like they were turning around for old Guillermo, and then bam, it all hit me like a freight train hitting an old ford pick-up, way past its prime, stranded in the middle of a train tracks crossway. My girlfriend Cheated on me and then dumped me. Later on that week I got my worse SAT scores and the grades for that quarter came in and I saw my C-.
Things were not looking awesome for me. The previous year I had played lacrosse in the spring. It’s a cool sport and I love watching it when it’s on TV, but I did not much like playing it at all. My teammates were not very nice, and I was pretty much terrible. So by the end of the fall, I was not at all looking forward to lacrosse in the spring. Well it turns out I wouldn’t have to be playing lacrosse anymore, because one of my friends, Matt, had signed me up for rugby in the spring. “Oh boy!! ” is not what I said at all. I was dreadfully scared of rugby. There was no way I would willingly play.
So one day I walked over with my friend, one of the captains, to the rugby coach’s office. He was also the dean of students, and a history teacher my history teacher. Being the dean he was naturally busy so my friend spoke to the coach for only a short time, telling him how I was joining the team. Coach’s only response was “OK. ” So I didn’t really know what to expect from the coach at that point. I had gotten myself ready for the season by getting in the weight room with the team as much as possible. There is preseason in the winter where everybody tries to get conditioned and stronger.
I was starting to get rid of my fears of the pitch and big hits the more and more I got friendlier with the team. And as it turned out, I was one of the stronger dudes on the team. By the end of the winter I was thinking that things might not be so bad after all. Before I knew it we were practicing five times a week. It was intense, but I wasn’t half bad. And then I got word that we were going to Texas for 12 days during spring break to practice and play as a team. I told my coach that I couldn’t really afford it, but he was very insistent that I go, and so he made it so I could go for less money.
Texas was incredible. It’s the state where I had my first ever rugby game. I broke my nose there too, during that very same game. Before that game, I had honestly never had more fun doing anything in my entire life. It really inspired me to work harder so I could get some more playing time and make an impact on my team. And I had I knew I had it in me. I lifted with my buddy every day after practice, so I could make a difference on the pitch. And I did. Rugby became so huge for me. My coach would always compliment me in practice, and that made me work harder and harder.
I knew that in order to keep playing I had to keep my grades up, so that’s what I did. Rugby distracted me from silly things like girls and standardized testing. I just wanted to enjoy myself, and that’s what I did. As the year went on I got stronger and stronger, self-motivating myself to become the best athlete I could be. I got more varsity playing time as a result, and eventually I had secured myself a starting position in the sport that I love the most. I got my grades on track, and I worked really hard over the summer, and ended up starting for my football team as well.
Things turned out really well for me after I had found something worth dedicating my time to, and I even met a perfect girl who I still have to support me at whatever I do. A legend once said, “Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. ” I believe I exuded what Lou Holtz was talking about. Now I might not have coached the Fighting Irish to a 12-0 championship winning season, but I definitely worked my heart out to accomplish everything I was capable of doing.
