When I was younger I never was really into playing with
Barbie Dolls and playing tea party. Instead, I would work with my dad on the car
we were making, or building something new for the house. It was safe to say that
I wasn’t going to grow up and be a super girlie girl. Instead, I enjoyed doing
stuff not many girls liked to do. One of the main things is Tae Kwon Do.
Tae Kwon Do is like Karate, but not the same. Tae Kwon Do
is a sport solely based on respect. If you don’t show respect to others you have
no respect for yourself. We learn self control in my studio, like not fighting
outside of school, talking out of line, and to respect someone even if you don’t
agree. Tae Kwon Do is a sport of mentality and that’s what separates the good
athletes from the best. Tae Kwon Do to me is better than some other sports due
to the fact I have anger
problems. When I go to class and train I release my
anger by kicking and punching as hard as I can. Tae Kwon Do is fighting with
protective gear, judges, and some rules.
I started doing Tae Kwon Do when I was six years old with
my sister. We both started because our cousins told us we should join. I thought
it was going to be like any other sport. Mom drops you off, Dad picks you up,
and then you go home and eat and sleep. It wasn’t. Being in Tae Kwon Do at such
a young age taught me about respect for my elders, my family, my country, and
the sport of Tae Kwon Do. As I got older I got better, and eventually left my
old studio and joined a new one to grow from better instructors and coaches. I
knew I was finally getting better when I won my first big tournament. It was in
July 2004, at the Junior National Championship. The best students that qualified
in the country went to that tournament, and I got bronze. Bronze wasn’t gold,
but I medaled out of thirty-two girls.
Now I’m fourteen years old and in the fourteen to
seventeen year old division, and eighteen to thirty-two year old division. Those
are the hardest divisions to be in when you’re the youngest in them, but if I
win all of my tournaments I will eventually go to the top. The top for me will
be the Junior National Team and after the Olympic Team. I’m no tomboy and I’m
not a girlie girl. I’m just someone that could kick you in a dress.
