As a football enthusiast, my mother always told me “football resembles life.” She always talked on and on about how everyone’s lives present rewards and obstacles, just like how a team can win or lose a game.
Some rewards for college students include being accepted into your top university, earning a good grade on a test or paper, and receiving a job. All of these positive events do not just happen to the students; they are the result of hard work, determination, and passion. These rewards resemble the different events that can occur during a football game. Once you’re accepted into your favorite university, you think, “All of my hard work has paid off.” Once a player steps onto the football field for his very first play of his college or professional career, his thinks the exact same thing. In both instances, it’s the student’s and the player’s time to shine after working so hard to get to that moment. In a different scenario, a student earning a good grade on a test or paper also directly resembles a player getting a first down during a game. For a college student, each grade accumulates into a final grade in the hopes of boosting his or her GPA, just like how each first down accumulates into progression down the field in the hopes of a touchdown or field goal. Finally, after all of your hard work in college, a job offer is within reach, just like how a touchdown is inevitable after running or passing down the field. After a strong performance in college, receiving a job offer is the greatest feeling, resembling the ultimate reward of earning a touchdown after a successful progression down the field.
Along with life’s rewards, there are also obstacles that you must overcome that relate to the problems that can occur during a football game. Some obstacles that are present during your college years are the inability to focus during a class, making bad decisions over the weekend, and receiving a rejection email from a company. The inability to focus in a class can lead to more issues, like not taking notes, and, eventually, not performing well on a test. Once a student does not do well on a test, they must try to receive a better grade on tests in the future. If a football player does not succeed in completing a third-down conversion then he must try harder when the offense returns to the field. If a student makes a bad decision over the weekend, then he or she must handle the repercussions and make sure that does not happen again. If a quarterback throws an interception or a wide receiver drops a pass, those players must also face the repercussions and alter their tactics so that those incidences do not happen again, as well. Finally, if a student is rejected from a job, they must regain confidence and strive to apply for other jobs, resembling second chances. If a team loses a game, the team needs to reassure itself that they are able to win the next game, also receiving a second chance.
Life’s ups and downs can directly relate to the successes and failures that occur during a football game, exposing people’s passion, determination, and perseverance to succeed. Both college students and football players learn lessons and are affected by those teachings, which allow them to succeed on future tests or plays. With just a few examples (but with many more still present), one can see how football really resembles life.
