To many people, crying can be seen as a weakness, and that only the weak could cry. Some wonder on how could something so simple as a tear be considered a weakness. Tears are meant to ward off bacteria and cleanse the eye, not to expose ones weaknesses. I, on the other hand, feel that crying is for some of the strongest people. It takes great strength to cry in front of family and friends and expose your vulnerabilities. When I was a child, crying only came to me through pain and fear. I cried when I fell off my bicycle for the first time, and when my grandfather died. I learned to cry from experiences like these.
When I was a junior in high school, I was asked to be a part of the Lady Whalers varsity basketball team. This was really special because this was Willisí , our coaches ìdream teamî. With a team of 12 players, eight returning seniors, three underclassmen with experience, and a Norwegian exchange student, everyone knew that we were going places this year. Other than basketball, there were many things that I learned throughout the season. I learned many different aspects of life from the diverse group of girls on the team. Our starting center was an exchange student from Norway and one of our forwards was a mother of one. Everyone had grown so close. I also learned about pride. That was our team cheer. We never said ìscoreî or ìgo whalersî , it was always ìPrideî.
That season we qualified for tournament. We made our way all the way to the state semi-finals. As we walked into the gym of Sandwich High School, there was an air of excitement running through the team as we waited to face the Sacred Heart Saints. The locker room was filled with chatter on how great it would be to win and how hard we need to work as we dressed in our blue and white uniforms. We entered the gym, warmed up, and began the game. It started off a little shaky with many mistakes being made in the first half. As the half ended we were down my 24 points. During half-time, everyone expressed their anger about the first half and how we would have to work harder and make less mistakes to get back into this game. As the second half began, everyone seemed revived and ready to play. You could see that everyone was playing their hearts out. We quickly began gaining in points so the Saints began putting on the pressure as we got the score within eight points. You could see that time was running out with only a few minutes left. As time ticked away, it seemed as if my breath was running down with it. Within the last few seconds I could feel my heart breaking.
3, 2, 1, buzz. We had lost. Tears flowed from my eyes like water from a faucet. I tried to wipe them away so others couldnít see, but as my jersey absorbed the tears, more would take their place. We entered the locker room which was now filled with emotion. A few moments later Willis came in, and through his tears, told us how proud he was of us and to be our coach. He told us how he had never had a team with so much pride and was sad the season had to end. I cried for days after that. Any thought of the season would send me into tears and it was hard not to think about. I felt as if I now had an empty place in my heart where my team had been for the past few months.
Soon I will cry for new reasons. I will cry when I cross the stage and receive my own diploma, knowing that I will soon be leaving all of my friends to go in our different ways. When I am older and following the career of my dreams, I might cry as I watch someone take their first step knowing that I am helping others dreams come true. I now realize that I am strong enough to convey my emotions in front of others and open myself up to many things and cry. I know that I am not weak.