This is a response from my good friend Nana, who lives in my hometown but is originally from Ghana, Africa.
This is his response to how College Athletics have changed his life forever:
I'm 20 years old and a Sophomore at an NAIA College in Montecito, Santa Barbara called Westmont College.
I play Football, which is also known here in American as Soccer.
How I decided to become a College is quite an interesting story.It is a story that has a long history and I wish there was an easier way to explain this. I have always dreamed about playing Football or Soccer at the professional level.
Im originally from Ghana, a country that most of you might be familiar with and some may not. It is a developing country, so like many less prosperous nations children we embrace sports and most of us, meaning the children define who we are by the sports we find and commit our whole lives to playing, hoping something productive might come out of it.
There are many people who play sports for fun, for the experience and for the wonderful environments that it places before us. But for me this sports, to be precise, Football is a way of life. I have spend all my life chasing this dream, running and battling against many odds to become a professional Footballer because this is what I had grown up seeing in my country. Many of the people I grew around committed their very being to this sport because it was an alternative to having a promising future. since even the well educated and most scholarly people i had grown up around found it incredible difficult to find a job in a world where there is a huge gap between the rich and the poor. Nothing what so ever of a middle class really. So for me and others like myself, playing Soccer was a way to secure ourselves a promising future. And we train everywhere and anytime, most times bare feet because we weren't able to afford the necessary gears we needed for the sport. And we train as hard as we can hopping somebody would see us and offer us a chance for a trail out on either local professional team or be blessed enough to make it overseas.
So personally, Soccer/Football was a of life and for 20years I had allowed it to define who I am. Though this perception has brought many glorious moments to my life, I guess I allowed it to unconsciously blind me of other talents that God blessed me with.
For 20 years, I had allowed this skewed perception to define who I am. But it has taken almost a year for me to finally start realizing that there is more to me that just Soccer/Football. I thought Soccer was the only reason why I was so accepted by people. I let this preconceived notion blur my true nature.
And now I understand that there is more to a person that just his or her possessions and achievements.
That we all have something special and unique, instilled in us and playing sports and doing other activities can help bring that special thing in anybody to light.
So personally, I wanted to play soccer for economic reasons, I wanted to erase the poverty that I have grown up witnessing in my family. Where most times it was very difficult to have a single meal, let alone a three square meal. Soccer was a war for me to get out of that system and be able to make it professionally and erase that poverty from my family.
So I grew up committing all my heart and very life to chasing after this dream of becoming a professional Soccer Player so I can eradicate the unpleasant financial circumstances in my family and in the lives of those I cared about.
The biggest accomplishment playing soccer has brought me is that I have been blessed to come to the United States to obtain an amazing education, while still playing. But I will say the greatest accomplishment for me at this time in my life is being able to come to the United States to study and ensure a promising future as a result.
I was fortunate to be recruited to a Soccer Academy and thus, become the first person in my age group to be given a full Academic Scholarship to study here in the United States at a private High School called Dunn School, located in the Santa Ynez Valley in California.
Being the last born to parents who past away when I was 4 or 5years old, I have great appreciation for this wonderful opportunity I've been blessed with to be here in America to have a wonderful education because they is no way, shape or form my family could have even pay for me schooling, let alone buy me a flight to this amazing country with this blessing of an education.
well I don't really usually like to talk about personal glory because to some extent i don't want people to think it's hubristic.
But I guess I can humble share that at the Dunn High School I was an Honor Roll student for all 4 years
and for soccer had some personal awards, MVP's and other but I think that is all I will share about this particular topic. And in College, I made the All-Conference Team.
I guess my biggest regrets, I don't really know if I should call this regrets or not but I hated not being able to play because of really disturbing injuries and also losing games that we should have won.
Favorite moments were the moments I spent on the field with my team mates, and Bus rides to away games and most importantly, the glorious moment that will forever live in my memory whenever we won a championship.
For funny moment: like I always asked my team mates to repeat themselves a lot or explain many jokes that didn't seem to ring any bell in my head. But they would laugh and we will all find ourselves having a really good laugh at me, including myself, because I couldn't understand the significant or the context. It's a cultural thing I guess. And it seemed they all enjoyed watching me get very confused, as I contemplate with ideas but will finally say something which they would think is funny and we will all be crying with soo much laughter.
These are some of the moments that I'm very proud to have been apart of.
To all you wonderful members and great audience of this amazing "Project Penguin" this tiny part of my life is not meant for you to feel sad or sorry or have pity for me but that you rejoice because of the blessings playing this Soccer/Football or this sport that I love so much has to presented to me and people like yourself. I really am proud of this amazing opportunity that I have been given which not may people in Country obtain to better their lives.
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