背靠背

Last week when we were having our routine volleyball practice, one of my teammates told me that if your ring finger is longer than the index finger of the same hand, you're better at sports or exercise than others. Then I took a look of both of my hands. Both of my ring finders were a little longer than the index fingers. I was surprised. Unlike most of the girls, I have been always interested in sports events and played some of them in my daily life, but I never thought that I was very good at any of them. I was not like some of the kids who had been playing basketball or soccer on the streets since they were at their very early age. In my family, both of my parents have never been interested in or good at any sports
My father was not a good swimmer, but he used to go swimming everyday. My mother remembered that when I was a little girl, I liked to go to swimming pool with my father and played in the water myself happily everyday. It's just like I have never been afraid of water since I was born. When I was eight, our family moved to a community, where there was a big swimming pool. In that summer, my younger brother and I started learning swimming. At that time, the financial situation in my family was not good, but my mom spent 20 thousands dollars paying the coach to teach us. Both of us learned it and could swim perfectly in ten days with the coach. From then on, we swam very often in summer days. Every afternoon after a nap, I put my swimming suit on, ran downstairs to the pool and jumped into the water, starting to swim. Mom ordered us to swim over 1000 meters everyday or we couldn't stop. She used to walk around the pool and watch us swimming under the sunset. We always swam and swam nonstop and finished it as soon as possible so that we could play with other kids before dinner.
When my younger brother was in the fifth grade in elementary school, he joined the school team while I almost stop swimming after entering a girl school for junior high. Before junior high, though I knew how to swim well, I was always hoping that I can also play other sports like basketball well. After entering junior high, I started playing basketball, volleyballs, and badminton. I didn't play them well at all, and actually I was the one who just stood beside the court and watched every game as an audience. At that time, I never know someday in the near future, I would fall in love with playing those sports.
In the first year of senior high, I returned to the life that I swam very often. I wasn't in the school team, but I became the member of a swimming club. I used to go swimming at night after heavy school work. As I was in water, no matter swimming or just floating on the pool, I relaxed not only every part of my body but also my mind. I felt like I was a fish. I can think of anything which I can't think with busy class and life. Sometimes, I just thought of nothing and felt the coldness of the water. Then, after swimming for over 2000 meters, I took a shower leisurely and walked home slowly. It became my routine and it really helped me to take a breath from the busy life and keep in good shape. In addition to swimming, I also played volleyball and badminton very often. Everyday my classmates and I gave up our lunch and rushed to the court in lunch time. At first, I played it very bad. I was depressed, but kept practicing it every noon. I can still remember the feeling when there were 5 people told me I really made a progress within a week. At that time, I just liked the feeling when friends gathered together and played those sports very hard. I loved to sweat and it felt good.
What really influences the present me is when I started watching NBA at the age of 16. In our class, boys were more than girls. And many boys watched NBA games, especially during the playoffs. They talked about it and watched the live games during the breaks in the classroom. After watching a few times with them, I began to turn to the sports channels when I watched TV. By the time entering the third grade, I truly fell in love with one of the NBA teams, Phoenix Suns. They played revolutionary basketball, small ball style, with fast speed, continuous running and strong self-confidence, which really touched my heart and inspired me when I was preparing the college entrance examination. They played every single game with their whole hearts and enjoyed every moment. Even I was watching games by TV from thousands miles away; I could always feel their efforts. Every weekend, the first thing after I woke up from the comfortable bed was to turn on the TV and enjoyed their game. After every game, I told myself that it's my turn to put all my efforts on my studies just like how the Suns played those games. When I was preparing the entrance interviews, I was stressful. Sometimes, I might just doubt myself if I was good enough to apply those top colleges because I got frustrated and my mother was not there with me. Then, Phoenix Suns and their belief of playing basketball became my best friends and my support. Fortunately, I got into the top college I always wanted to get in and I would probably say that I couldn’t get this thing done without the belief I found in Phoenix Suns’ games.
During the 2006 playoffs, I was permitted to go into NCTU and having relaxed and happy life everyday. But the Phoenix Suns faced one of the toughest situations in their season. They were down 1-3 by the LA Lakers and if they lose one more game, their season would get over. Even they were in such a dangerous situation, they were still very confident in themselves. Though almost everyone in the league doubted the way they played, they still believed in themselves. They said "We are who we are." They were just down but not yet out. At that time, I was worrying about them as a super fan, but at the same time, I was really touched by their faith. I saw something which I also found in myself from the team. When I set the goal of getting into one of the top universities, lots of schoolmates and even teachers thought I was too unrealistic. They doubted me. However, I still held on my faith and kept realizing my goal step by step. The Suns faced the similar situation, but later on they fought back. They won three straight games and advanced to the semi-final by eliminating the Lakers. I remember vividly that my favorite player, Boris Diaw, said "It's about pride now." before the last game against the Lakers. In those few weeks, I realized that life will not always go the way we like, but we cannot just stand there and claim we don't get the chance. We need to hold on every chance and take every challenge all the time. When others don't believe in you, just show them your attitude.
Now here in college, I'm still a super fan of Phoenix Suns. I would not miss any of their games. Besides, I became the vice leader in our department girl volleyball team, and I'm going to be the leader next year. I would not think that I am the vice leader now because I'm good. I will take it as a responsibility. It's my challenge to lead this team and let more and more people in our department enjoy playing sports. I’m taking it with my heart.
Most of my friends around me couldn't understand why I'm always crazy about volleyball, basketball, and Phoenix Suns. Somehow I cannot tell them a certain reason. I would just say I'm not a normal girl. I love sports. I love sweat. I enjoy every part I like in the world and learn something from each of them. I enjoy the feeling when people work very hard to reach their goal, especially when they’re together.