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My Life Journey, Part 1: November 1977-May 1996
By Cindy | August 31, 2007
To understand why I am here today, I decided to take a journey back in time and share my life story. My journey to become physically fit is part of a larger Journey of Life!
Just a Little Girl
My journey began in Jersey City, New Jersey on a cold November evening in 1977. Being a baby with no memory recall, I can’t tell you how I felt or what I did. I’m sure I cried, ate and slept and repeated the cycle often. I’ll fast forward to when I turned nine and we settled in Georgetown, TX. We moved from New Jersey to Orlando and Tampa, Florida, Houston and Austin, TX and finally, Georgetown, TX in my earlier years. It was the small town my parents wanted to raise children.
My parents are my role models. My sweet mom is from Puerto Rico and was raised in Jersey City. She moved with my father down to Tampa six months after I was born. Dad was born in Illinois, but spent most of his childhood in Florida. My parents worked hard and provided us with a healthy and loving upbringing. With two younger brothers, we were quite a handful. Mom and Dad shuttled us between soccer, basketball, volleyball and baseball practices for as long as I can remember. They made sure that my brothers and I had everything we needed to develop into strong, independent individuals. Mom showed that determination and strong-will would carry us through challenges we faced. She earned her GED, worked two jobs, made cakes for family and friends, and did home sales in Avon and Pampered Chef. I must get the multi-tasking bug from my mom! Dad worked long, physically demanding jobs, made e
very game we played, and helped cook and clean around the house. My parents are quite the team. They had their difficulties and marital arguments, but they always came together for us. Dad gave the pep talks and explained how important focus was in achieving our goals. He always said that we had to work to be the best in everything we do. They emphasized that we focus on school. I never held a job when I grew up. I spent my time volunteering and teaching community sports teams, mentoring younger students, participating in clubs and organizations at school, being involved in theatre, basketball and volleyball.
My introduction to physical fitness started at an early age. When we lived in Florida, I played cops and robbers, kickball, and cowboys and Indians with my cousins across the street. Roller skating and riding bikes around the neighborhood was a daily activity. Are you thinking “Tomboy?” Yep, that was me. My parents tried to instill a little girliness into my early years. They enrolled me in ballet and dance when I was six, but my lack of flexibility ended my short career. Plus, I don’t think the fluffy, pink tutu and tights were ever meant to be a part of my wardrobe.
Basketball
Georgetown had a great community sports program. My parents let me sign up for basketball. I loved it. I was tall for my age and was agile enough to make a difference on the team. Since we were a small town, the team grew up together. We made up the first Junior High team that went undefeated both years. As we progressed through High School, the girls started to take different paths, but the team was still very strong. I stopped growing in Jr. High and had to shift from post (under the basket) position to point guard and wing. I was decent, but I had to reestablish my presence on the court. I lost my desire to continue with basketball when senior year rolled around. Summers were always a difficult time for me. I didn’t practice enough. I retrained about two weeks before school started. My plans were to always stay focused and practice daily for an hour or two. I would focus for weeks on my skills, but then I’d find myself burnt out. I didn’t dedicate the time I needed to become a fantastic player. Most of the time, I worked hard to be good, but I didn’t push myself to pass the thresholds I needed to be Awesome. It is a weakness I have. I accept good enough when I really need to push beyond and excel for excellence. I was okay and I’m confident I would have made the varsity team, but I plateaued and distanced myself from the game. I didn’t want to spend time on the bench. I look back now and wonder if I made the right decision. I would have loved to join the team as they made their way to the State Championship game, but I had lost the desire to put in the time that the practices would have required to be a bench warmer.
Volleyball
I started playing volleyball in seventh grade. I was an immediate fan of the sport. Our team was decent, but it was the first year for most of the girls to play. We didn’t have teams for the younger ages in our community. My favorite position was as a setter. Redirecting the ball in the air to a designated spot on the court was awesome. The dynamics of the game required everyone’s focus. When I went to play freshman year in high school, I had my first major argument with dad. He refused to let me play volleyball because he felt I needed to focus on my studies and basketball. I wanted to play volleyball and basketball. Since I played basketball close to seven years, Dad felt it was best that I focused my skills on basketball. I cried and begged. Of course, dad won and I missed my freshman year of volleyball. I was able to keep my grades up through the basketball season and Dad let me play volleyball the next year. I missed a large 
developing year, but the coach was very supportive of my return. She provided me with a training program to work on during the summer. I had a lot of catching up to do. I worked hard to get on the Jr. Volleyball team and made the varsity team my senior year. Our team was the Bi-District Champions.
As for the other aspects of my junior high and high school experiences, I didn’t pay much attention to the social buzz. I had my crushes and awkward moments, but I focused on school work and sports. I didn’t have much time for anything else. I was little Miss Goody Two Shoes. I listened in class, studied in my spare time, and participated in several school organizations and volunteer ventures.
How I decided to attend the U. S. Naval Academy
When I saw Chritian Laettner make “The Shot” in 1992 to win the game for Duke against Kentucky, I had planned on getting into Duke with a basketball scholarship. The only school I wanted to attend was Duke. When the summer of my junior year arrived, my family gathered in the car and drove to North Carolina. We visited Wake Forest, Duke and made a special trip up to Annapolis to the United States Naval Academy (USNA). The only reason we added USNA to my list of schools was West Point. I received a postcard in the mail from the Army. Yeah, the recruiting effort didn’t work on me for West Point, but it did result in my attendance to the Naval Academy. My dad served in the Navy and his experience was a positive one. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to see the campus and see what they had to offer.
There was no comparison once I stepped onto “The Yard” in Annapolis. Duke and Wake Forest were nice and they had history and the promise of a “college lifestyle,” but they didn’t ignite the passion or challenge I found at the Academy. I was very impressed by multi-generational attendance by families. I found the college I wanted to attend. I wanted to be a Naval Officer and represent our country with respect and confidence in the core values of Honor, Courage and Commitment.
Preparing for the Academy
After visiting the Academy, I was determined to become a Midshipman. I asked the track coach if I could workout with the track team. I ran in the park daily. Up to this point my running was short bursts for court play. My volleyball coach always insisted that we run ten minutes prior to practice as our warmup. It was the best advise she gave us. I added timed sprints and slow runs to my workouts. When I turned in my score for my entrance mile run I ran a 6:29. It was the best I had ever done.
Every night before I went to bed I did 200 situps and 100 pushups. I struggled with the hanging arm strength test. I practiced and practiced. I came up one second short on my first attempt. I had to retake the hanging arm test. In the end, I gained five seconds on the hanging arm test to pass the entrance physical fitness test.
By December 1995, I received my Congressional Nomination from then-Senator Phil Gramm of Texas. Within two weeks, my letter of acceptance came from the Naval Academy. My path for the future was set.
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Topics: Personal Journey |
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great story