Character and Charisma #6

During the pandemic, I was locked inside almost all day. I would wake up at 8:25, grab my computer, and start school at 8:30 in the morning, oftentimes not even getting out of my pajamas. Once school was over, I turned off my computer screen and returned to bed – that was if I ever got out of it in the first place for zoom school. My life was confined to my home like everyone else’s. Every day was mundane but there was nothing we could do about it. 

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during the wrestling season I could break free from my home. I started wrestling in 8th grade, before the pandemic started, and have been wrestling ever since. Practice would start at 3:00 PM and was two hours long, but it always felt like 5. Wrestling practice was grueling when I first started, probably since I wasn’t able to practice over the summer between 8th grade and freshman year, due to the pandemic. Additionally, before every practice we had to take a covid test to make sure that we were all safe. In the beginning, shoving something up my nose to then go to wrestling practice was not favorable, but it’s funny how it became something I eventually looked forward to. After I realized it wasn’t ending anytime soon, getting to leave my house was the part of my day that I was most excited for. 

As the only freshman wrestler, I was intimidated. Even more so, I was the smallest. Because no one else was in my weigh class, I had to practice against wrestler who were much bigger than me and had more years of experience than I. It was not only a physical battle with them but it was a mental battle in my own head. I remember praying that I wouldn’t break any bones when I was going up against my 200lb teammate in practice. Luckily enough, I made it out alright but the next smaller guy that went up against him didn’t; two broken bones later and an ER visit, he quit his wrestling career for good. My 200lb teammate ended up pinning me down within the first 10 seconds. Knowing that my genetics would never allow me to come close to his size, I knew in order to defeat the big guys it was going to be a test of agility, perseverance, and mental fortitude. 

At my first competition of freshman year I competed in the 106lb weight class at a Junior Varsity tournament. I was incredibly nervous about walking onto the mat for the first time. Before my first match, the seniors gave me a pep talk on exactly what to do. My name was called and it was all up to me to win. I was going against a taller opponent, which did not help my anxieties at all. When the whistle blew and the match started, I tried to stick to what the seniors had planned for me, but I deviated in every way possible. As the match went on I became increasingly exhausted, which was what led to my loss. I shook my opponents hands and returned back to my team’s row of chairs. To my surprise, I was not met with the tears of a disappointed team as I had expected. I was instead met with overjoyed expressions from the same seniors, whose plans I had forgotten. They were proud of how long I had lasted on the mat, and were proud of how many times I got back up again. I continued to always get back up on the mat, both in practice and in competitions until I got better and could pin my opponents down. Wrestling taught me you don’t have to be the best player, but you have to be the most dedicated. 

Fortunately enough for me, I have gotten much better throughout the years but the lesson of getting back up again still remains true. What started out as my way to get out of regular PE class turned into an unlikely passion of mine, constantly challenging myself to get off the ground and get back on my own two feet quite literally. This manifested itself into a metaphor for my life. Whether it’s going back to a code that I’ve worked on for weeks that refuses to compile or persevering through cultural conflicts between my American and Indian sides, wrestling has taught me that there is always a reason to stand back up and believe in your own strength.