Charles Oliphant

My life began on july nineteenth of 2001. I was actually considered to be a pretty average

sized baby at eight pounds and eight ounces. I, of course, soon grew out of that average size

category. By the time I was six and seven years old I was already pushing well past a hundred

pounds. By the time I was nine i was 150 pounds and already as tall as some of my teachers.

Ever since then I have been considered to be a big kid. This had both its advantages and

disadvantages in my life.

When I was 4 years old I started playing sports. Soccer, t-ball, basketball, swimming,

even a little tennis I did them all. But it wasn’t until I found football that my real passion or

sports started. When I about to turn nine I went to my mom and told her “Hey! I want to play

football!” and from then on that was my life. For the next 8 years my whole life revolved around

football. Practice, games, camps, dinners, and all sorts of other related activities. Over the next 8

years I would play with people and friends that have become by lifelong “football buddies” I will

always treasure the time that we sweat, bled, and threw up for each other on that field. I will

never forget the lessons I learned. Lessons like perseverance, hard work, accountability, and

sacrifice. Those lessons will remain with me for the rest of my life. But not all the experiences

that I had were good.

Because of my immense size I was bullied a lot when I was a kid. I can remember days

not going to school because I didn’t want to face the bullies in my life. It took me a long to get

over the things that they said and I will always remember that decide who I am and how I feel.

That has pretty much been my life up to this point.