Everyone has found some sort of activity that they love and stick with through out high school and maybe after school. Some people like games, sports, reading, dance, band, or writing.

When I was growing up sports was the main hobby that I had picked up and its impact on my life was bigger than I thought. For those people who play sports, y'all might have also experienced some of the same things.

When you play sports, you ended up making friends, going on trips, see new places, and make friends at said places. For some sports is an outlet for anything.

Have frustration, in football, you can run and tackle someone, softball you can hit and throw a ball as hard as you want, soccer you can kick the ball hard and possibly knock into people, karate you can just go up to another karate student and see if they want the fight.

Sports also are good for making bonds that won’t be broken. You end up with a family over time. You learn how to work together and what everyone is thinking and know what plays to do and who’s got who.

Not all sports have contact but they still require hard work. An example would be the band. They put in hours and hours of time, effort, and practice to perform a 10 to 15-minute show. That don't get a do-over, a pause, or a break.

Basically gotta be perfect when performing. They practice during the summer in the heat, during fall, and then after football season because they have concerts, and they are getting ready for the next football season.

Marching in the band is not easy at all. My brother is int he band he plays percussion for the Oxford High School marching band. Seeing him come home after band practice or band camp in the summer is outstanding because he is tired, seating, and wore out.

Yet the band has so much fun just like any other team. They are family, they have drama, but everyone is still friends.

Personally, sports was a learning and growing experience, growing up I play every different sport to stay active as I got older I started sticking to just one or two sports.

That tends to happen because everyone has certain skill sets that help them succeed in different sports or hobbies.

Karate gave me an outlet for my frustration, I liked the fighting part of karate. We have tournaments that include fighting(point, semi-knockout, full contact), katas(forms), weapons (sai, bo, tonfa, nunchuck, sword). The competition was my drive in karate for a while.

I liked to win knowing I did better than yesterday, against my competitors. I loved it. Over time I stopped with the competitions and the fighting, I started doing it for the students.

Teaching them what I had learned and taught them the way I was taught. Over time I ended up slowing down and taking time to understand my katas, and teaching to learn more.

Softball was the other outlet I could hit, run, and throw to let loose. I made wonderful friends and was part of a group of girls that could be silly and playful at times but when it came to games and practice they were serious and helpful.

Travel softball was my favorite time of the year, it had an adventure waiting. Teammates that I have grown to know and love. Coach’s that encouraged smiling every practice and game.

It was another family that could goof off until game time and then we got serious and played the game we loved.

Sports have an impact on life no matter what. They help develop social, teamwork, and leadership skills.