Unit 1 Project

 At a young age, my parents wanted me to play basketball as that is the sport my dad and mom played. I played when I was 5, but I did not enjoy it as much. So, I started to play soccer at the age of 6, but it took me a long time to convince my parents as they both wanted me to stick with basketball and not soccer.  After convincing them that I wanted to play soccer, it was very hard learning a sport that I had never played before or seen. So, initially adapting to the sport and fitting into the soccer community proved to be a challenge. I switched between several soccer clubs in Beijing as I was eager to find the one that suited me best and would help me improve as a player. However, this constant change made it difficult for me to form lasting friendships with the teams, and it even made me consider quitting the sport altogether.  After jumping around in several clubs I joined Sports Beijing, I remained with the club for 5 years, and I finally felt like I belonged in the soccer community. Nevertheless, I still believed that I wasn’t truly knowledgeable or proficient in the sport I loved.

Upon moving back to Taipei, it took me 2 years to find a club that I was content with. I went to Intern Taoyuan first, a club that was far away from where I lived, it usually took me around forty-five to an hour drive to get to practice from where I lived. This not only affected my school work but also my health, as the practice usually ends around 10 and I will be home around 11, which was pretty late for me when I was in middle school. I stopped playing for a while, but I still managed to play on the soccer team in middle school. After asking my friend what club they were playing they did not tell me where they played, but my mom discovered AC Taipei. I found out it was the same club where my friend played.  After not playing in a club for so long, I was in a place of unknown, as it felt new and fresh. I was very nervous the first day I went to try out, as I did not have a lot of confidence in myself, and was scared that I wouldn’t be able to succeed. But joining AC Taipei, a club that is dedicated to developing young players in various aspects of the game to reach Division 1 in Taiwan, also significantly boosted my confidence in my soccer skills. This newfound confidence led me to enjoy the game much more and made me feel literate and fluent in soccer, something I hadn’t felt before. Being a senior on the Varsity soccer team for my school, we as a leader needed to step up and lead the underclassmen. We were basically in charge of all the positions and the formation for defense and offense, as our new coach believed that we should have a say in his decision-making, as he believed that it would make the team better. After the COVID-19 lockdown was lifted, my high school soccer team participated in IASAS a soccer tournament where we competed against 6 other schools in Asia. A goal we had been working towards for over 3 years was to win the whole thing and get gold. We ultimately won the entire tournament, which was a significant achievement for us. Winning the tournament made me realize that soccer was my passion and all I wanted to do was to play soccer at a higher level and try to work hard and be better than everyone else.

Moving from Taipei to Syracuse, I noticed the playing style of soccer is different compared to Taipei, where I played for 7 years. Going to my first Division 1 game in the first week of school, I noticed that there was a lot of difference. One of the most obvious differences was that the players in Syracuse were all much taller and stronger than the players I played with in Taipei, which as a Center back in Taipei made it impossible to play in a position that I was comfortable with. This led me to adapt and I started playing Center Midfielder or Center defense Midfielder, as the height of the player won’t be a factor. This change made me go back to where I was when I moved from Beijing to Taipei, where I was confused about what I should do with my passion.  My goal still did not change, but my mindset started to go from being someone confident to being unfamiliar with the game of soccer. I needed to put in a lot more work to work on myself, and my game. Being a center-back and a center midfielder is very different. The skill set you need to become a good center midfielder is vastly different compared to being a good center-back. You get the most pressure being in the middle of the field, your first touch, and passing need to be top-notch to be able to play at an elite level.  As I always dreamed about playing in Division 1, switching positions was something that was not on my mind, as I didn’t realize the size difference between me and the other players. But I was fortunate enough to be invited for walk-on opportunities to be able to try and make the Division 1 team. Even though I know it will be one of the hardest things I have done in my life, I know that it will still be good for me to try and challenge myself against players at an elite level. Unfortunately, my skillset was still not at the level of Divison 1, and I know that my skills can improve, and when I try out for the team next year I will have a better shot of making the team compared to this year. It was a really good eye-opener to see them play, and I know if I keep working hard I will achieve my goals in life.  From playing a sport that I was unfamiliar with, never played the sport, or seen on TV.  To the point that I believe that I am fluent and literate in the game of soccer, it shows the importance of soccer in my life, and how it changed my life altogether.

Reflections:

1.  I feel that working on my own was the most significant in my understanding of the assignment. I had the chance to truly think about the topic, invest the time needed to reflect on my soccer-playing adventure, and explore the various challenges I faced in life related to soccer

2.  I feel that my understanding of analysis and argument has evolved since the beginning of the unit as I've discovered new ways to analyze passages, make them more persuasive, and effectively convey my opinion to readers

3. The reading about Gatorade and fake science was really interesting as it showed how people advertise their own products to attract an audience, but in reality, they might not be truthful. This helps me as a writer to draw inspiration from them and attempt to engage the reader and the audience, making them want to read my passage.

4. One of the passages that resonated with me is the one about Rza. The quote where he discusses his children's lives illustrates the significant effort he put into improving their circumstances. He mentioned, 'Rza's childhood, compared to his own child's life, is very different.' This statement reflects his determination to offer his children a better path, one that leads to success in life and helps them avoid becoming like him.

5. When I found out that I needed to choose this topic for my unit 1 assignment, I knew I wanted to focus on soccer and how it has changed my life. The most challenging part was trying to infuse more emotion into the essay because that is something that can help me captivate the reader. Most people tend to be more interested when they read about personal experiences and how individuals overcome various challenges.

6.  I feel that if I have more time, one of the things I would want to continue working on is infusing more emotion into the essay. While I did include some emotions in the passage, I believe that adding more would enhance its quality and make it more engaging for the audience to read.