Liba 450 - Reflection

Josh Wenger

Reflective Paper #1

Professor Karen Bason

LIBA 450 A

Intro:

In my life, I have been blessed with an amazing group of people to grow up around. My parents have given me many opportunities and taught me many lessons. From the man I am today and to where I am going in my life I cannot thank my family and friends enough to how they have shaped me. This has influence me to follow my passion into a future vocation.

What have been significate experiences and influences that helped you realize the role you want to fulfill? These may include family influences or work experiences, important mentors, valuable courses, good teacher or even setbacks and failures.

During my 8th grade year of wrestling I was beginning to win more and more. Not only matches that I thought I should win but also the tough matches. There was a state tournament every year that was put on by an organization called AAU. I had won my districts and we made our trip down here to Wells Fargo Arena.

When we got there wrestling began that morning and I can remember the crazy amount of nerves running through my body. Making me jittery and impatient. My first match began and I soon ran myself out of what little energy I had left. After winning a few matches that seemed almost like miniature fights, I made it to the finals. Again, the nerves came rushing back and I again became impatient. As the match started I then again wore myself out of energy in the first period and was never able to hang on. I lost and was so disappointed that I didn’t want to talk to anyone.

As I began to calm down my dad soon came over and sat down next to me. No words were spoken for a solid fifteen to twenty minutes. As I sat there the only thing that I could think of was if I came this far why fall this short. When my dad finally spoke up he said to me, “Well that sure was fun.” I couldn’t do anything but laugh at him. It was fun and it was a great experience. As we sat and talked we realize that there never should be any pressure on wrestling. It is a fun sport and every time that I get to wrestling is a new opportunity.

Looking back on this experience I began to realize the things I learned and how they apply to my life today. The first was not to worry about the things you can’t control. This has shaped me to not be afraid of taking some risk and when things get overwhelming, to figure out what I can change and focus on that. I also learned to have fun in whatever you do. Whether it is a sport or job you have to have fun. This has encouraged me to come to college on a wrestling scholarship.

My father has had a huge impact on my life and taught me many things that have shaped the way I am. From introducing me to wrestling to being my coach for many years. He has taught what it means to by physically and mentally tough. With this he showed me that life is not easy and you are not always going to be given the same opportunities as the people around you. He always used to tell me, “take advantage of every opportunity, don’t take anything for granted.” Along with this I have learned that do what you can to give you the best opportunities.

Coming to Grand View out of high school has been an amazing opportunity that was given to me because of the people in my life like my dad. I was very fortunate to have been recruited but to get to this point I cannot thank my dad enough. Now I am able to fulfil my dream of getting a college education and degree. This will allow me to be able to go out into the work force after college and make an impact on my community. I also plan to continue in the wrestling world and coach. This is to pass on the lessons I have learned on to other young wrestlers.

What does your journey say about you thus far?

        My journey that I have taken to where I am right now has shaped who I am and the type of person I am. This goes from the rules I live by along with what makes me the way I am. I have been very fortunate to have many opportunities. This is from traveling around the nation for sports and for family vacations.

        With traveling I have got to experience many different cultures and also learn to adapt to new things. This goes from going to Nebraska and wrestling in a big coliseum to traveling to Cozumel on a family vacation. I have learned to interact with people who are not from the same background, along with being able to perform in a new environment.

        In Cozumel, we stayed at an all-inclusive resort that was on the beach and gated in. Although there were many families from all around the United States and Canada running around I found the workers the most fun to talk to. One of the performers that called himself Sal was very interesting. He was pretty rough on his English but we soon started to put together his life story. We played soccer every day and each day I was able to learn more and more. He used to live in a place he called a “drug city.” The only jobs that anyone had there was to sell or transport drugs. When he turned 18 he then left and made his way to this resort where his performing talents were put to use. I learned from him that you never know how someone gets to where they are. All you know is that you can learn something from everyone and thus far I am just trying to never stop learning.