Javier 1

Elpidio Javier
English 113B
Professor Ditch
8 May 2015
Cultural Identities in One
Culture can be referred to many kinds of categories, and perceived differently to people.
Sports are a type of physical activity involving skills from an individual or with a team
competing against other people or groups. It focuses a lot on hard work and challenging yourself
on becoming better at what you do, the determination on not giving up and keep going, as well as
improving yourself on becoming a better person internally and externally. Although the sports
culture is based on activities played physically and mentally, it has influenced my life in many
ways on what I do, such as in school, with family and friends, or wherever I go.
Sports have influenced my life in many ways as it helped me academically in school. Ive
been involved in volleyball since I was a kid and played all my years in middle and high school.
Of course in the beginning, learning a new sport is very difficult and takes a lot of work to grasp
and becoming better at it. I would do my best whenever I was at practice and even when I was
off the court, I would still keep striving on becoming a better player, as I wanted to be the best on
my team and also in the league. Becoming determined to be the best at a sport I played
transitioned over to my academics because I also wanted to do my best in all my classes and
make sure that I was on the top of my class, getting good grades and be able to go far with my
school. In My Hips, My Caderas by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, Rodriguez states, I shift different
halves of my soul daily to match whichever cultural backdrop I happen to face (ValdesRodriguez 74) in which talks about how a woman in the article that had to be able to balance out

Javier 2
living her American Culture and Cuban Culture. This came into relation with my life because
whenever I was on the court playing volleyball, I was focused on enhancing my skills and how to
get better than how I was, but when I was off the court and concentrated on my academics, I was
making sure I was being able to understand the lessons I was given and also able to finish my
work. With the help of playing volleyball and striving to get better, I was recognized a lot for my
skills and had a lot of awards for Most Valuable Player, making the All League Team, and
winning 2 championships in middle school and another 2 in my high school years. This also
transitioned over to my academics as I was awarded for having high grades, graduating with a
4.0, and many more in school. With the determination on becoming better while I played a sport,
the sports culture influenced me to become better on other things as well such as in my school
too not give up on what I was doing and excel.
The influence of sports has helped me with connecting with others whenever I was
accompanied by friends, families, and from meeting new people as well. In the sports culture,
individuals or groups communicate, interact, and get to know a lot of new people, making new
rivals, enemies, or friends as well. The culture has helped me with my social skills whenever I
met new people, or if I was with family or friends that Ive known already, because it assisted me
to not become shy towards people. Becoming team captain for my volleyball team had a lot of
responsibility and hard work shadowed upon myself. As a team captain, they are viewed as the
head leader that everyone depends and look up to because youre at the top, very skilled, and
know what youre doing. Because of that, I was the person to make sure my team was on the
right track and having to communicate with each of them so they know what they were doing,
whether we were at practice or playing in game against another team. I would meet new players
from different teams and the shyness was just a distance for me because as I socialized with

Javier 3
various people, I became used to it and would have no problem talking to anyone, even till now.
Before I would play sports, I would be shy when I was young and whenever I would be at family
parties I would be the quiet person who wouldnt talk or be nervous to talk to anyone. But getting
involved to sports, I am lucky to be able to move between two worlds (Rodriguez 75). The more
I got involved in playing sports helped me break the shell of being timid and be able to be
comfortable towards anyone who was around me, whether it was somebody I knew or someone I
didnt. My family, girlfriend, and friends would always come to support me in my games and I
became more comfortable each day as I played and I became the guy everyone knew and to talk
too in school because I was able to connect with lots of people. In Global Post, Susan
McCammon and Demand Media states, Sports lead to personal improvement and improved
family functioning. in which shows that participating in sports help personally on being able to
communicate better and have a closer bond with family members or others. Communication is a
big key in the sports culture, reaching out to others in your team and connecting with them leads
to winning games and success as it transitions over to general life, because interacting with
people helps build confidence in yourself in which has helped me.
Participating in the sports culture has helped me a lot in my life in different ways. If I
didnt participate in physical activities, I dont know what I would be doing as of now. The
culture has gotten me where I am today, such as meeting all my friends and helping me build my
confidence in myself. When I was a kid, going outside to play is all I did as I grew up. I would
go out and play various kinds of sports with my friends, whether it was shooting basketballs,
kicking soccer balls, or catching baseballs, it helped me become determined to be better at what I
do and connect with others. Each day I would always go outside and do something physical even
if I ended up being alone I was always interested on playing something. And when I started

Javier 4
participating in sports in school, it helped me improve my health and take care of myself, making
sure I was fit and healthy. As I started playing in school, balancing on my eating habits became
really important to me so I wouldnt become lazy, or become too fat and not able to participate or
quit playing. I would always make sure what would be healthy to eat or drink during my sports
seasons and when I wasnt playing sports for s period of time it carried over and I watched what I
ate because having a good health is what stuck with me. Whenever I would go out with my
friends or my family, getting something to eat is what we would always do. I always made sure
not to eat too much fast food, junk food, or anything else because I knew it would be unhealthy
and wouldnt be good for my health. But there were a lot of times where I would eat or drink
unhealthy and I always made sure to work it all off by playing sports. As of now, I still watch
what I eat because I care about my health thanks to playing sports. Not being involved in the
sports culture would have led me to just be a couch potato, avoiding doing anything physical and
end up isolating myself and not wanting to be around anyone or always giving up in school.
Brenda Scottsdale says that, Sportsconditionbothyourbodyandyourmind.Apartfromthe
obviousphysicalprowessrequiredtoparticipateinanysport;youneedthementaldisciplineto
maintainyourfocus.inwhichshowsthatgettinginvolvedanddoingphysicalactivitieshelps
youphysicallywithyourbodyandmentallyastheseinfluencesassistedmealotthroughoutmy
lifeandtillnowaswell.
Therearemanyculturesthatpeoplehavetheiropiniononwhatthedefinitionis,asthe
sportscultureisatypeofculturethathasinfluencedmealotinmylife.Sportshashelpedme
focusandbecomedeterminedwhenIminschooltokeepstrivingformygoals,communicating
andinteractingwithpeopleImsurroundedwith,whetheritswithmyfamily,friends,ornew
people.TheculturehashelpedmemaintainandliveahealthylifestyleastowhatIeat,ordrink,

Javier 5
andstillasofnow.Sportsisatypeofculturethathasalotofinfluencestogiveandeventhough
itlookslikeitsjustphysicalactivities,itcanhelpyouinmanyvariouswaysinlife.

Javier 6

Work Cited
Valdes-Rodriguez, Alisa. My Hips, My Caderas. Print
McCammon, Susan. Media, Demand. Behavioral Intervention for Antisocial Behaviors
in Children. Print.