MY IDENTITY ESSAY

Jared Verebey

09-01-14
Professor Young

English 1100

MY IDENTITY

            There are many things that bring out my true identity. Your identity can be anything such as a person, object, language or hobby. Just like Anzaldua in the story, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, there is ONE specific thing that brings out my true identity. What makes me the person I am today is baseball and throwing each pitch with execution off the mound.

            Being a baseball player brings out the real me. I love being a part of a team with all of my friends. Baseball gives me education on learning how to use different types of strategies to get the job done any way I can. My favorite part about being a baseball player is being put into pressure situations such as bases loaded, nobody out and the winning run on second base. The person I am is a guy that enjoys to be put under pressure and have to work my way out of them while trusting my defense behind me. I love learning new strategies on how to stay calm and train myself to get out of tough situations.  Throwing each pitch off the mound being under pressure when put in a situations during the game, and strategizing how to get a job done is what makes me the person I am today. I always knew from day 1 of being a pitcher that my love for the game is what makes me the person I am today. Baseball brings out the side of my true identity and with all of the pressure and the team camaraderie, expresses who I really am.

Being a baseball player brings out my true identity. I am able to be put under pressure and in difficult situations in which I am required to find my way out of. I enjoy being put in difficult situations because I truly love having strong adrenaline rushes especially once I get the job done and I hear my teammates along with the crowd screaming for me.  But, there is more to being a baseball player than just having an adrenaline rush that teaches me new things which brings out the real me.

            Playing the game of baseball has shown me how to always be positive and have a good time no matter what. When I was younger, I was always a shy person until I began playing baseball. After playing just one season, I realized how happy it made me and that it was something I never wanted to give up. It brought out a side of me that always made me feel right and how I wanted to consistently feel. It turned me into a social person and taught me how to bond with anyone I come into contact with. My family and many others, now for the past ten to twelve years call me, “Mr. Social.” Being a baseball player and being called, “Mr. Social”, is no doubt my true identity. It also has taught me how to make friends by being social. From an entrepreneurial point of view, being a social, talkative person is very important for that entire field.  In my opinion, to be a successful businessman or woman, a person has to be able to be vocal and socialize with anyone so they can make deals with customers and even to interview potential employees they may hire.  I also believe that the lessons I have learned from baseball each and every year is how to get out of not just similar but new situations. It will guide me through any type of obstacle that is thrown in front of me when I eventually enter the business world after my college career. My identity has developed from being a baseball player and I know I will benefit and become successful in life after college because of it.

            Throughout the short story, “Black Power” written by James McBride, it explains a story of a large African American family that had many obstacles to deal with and overcome during their lives. Their identity was created by these obstacles because during the time period in the 1960s, African Americans were equal to every other person no matter what their race was but were not treated equally which made them believe they were different and made the family more passionate about their race. Like I wrote early, being a baseball player makes me the person I am today. I am somewhat able to relate to their belief of their identity because just like there are multiple races, there are many different sports. If you take a look at the types of people that play football, they are more of the jocks rather than the people that play soccer and play baseball. Football players think a lot higher of themselves and like they rule the athletic world which is why they always try ganging up on the other athletes of other sports. For example: when the baseball team would lift in high school, we would get kicked out when the football team would come in which made us feel less cared about and not equal with them. That is why we always took our sport more seriously because it made us want our county and state championship more and more. In my opinion, when anyone feels like they are not equivalent to something, like your race, sport or hobby, it makes you more passionate about it that can generate it to be your identity.

            Every single person in the world has one specific thing that generates who he or she really is. My identity, which brings out the real me, is being a baseball player because of what it has taught me. I enjoy my adrenaline rushes when I am put in situations and I have learned how to get myself out of any jam, socialize with anyone, and bond and make friends with any type of person no matter who they are. If it was not for me becoming a baseball player, there is no doubt in my mind that I would not be the person I am today. 

                   

Work Cited Page

McBride, James. “The Color of Water”. New York: Penguin Group, 2006. Print.

Anzaldua, Gloria. “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.