Daniela Marcel, Week 16: My Team
There were over 20 people on the team. Everyone was a few years older than me. I was a 6-year-old in a class filled with 10-16 year olds. Despite me being so young, they welcomed me with open arms. They would teach me all their tricks, and even if it took a while for me to learn, they would never give up on me. Sadly, after a few years, one by one they left for college. I was “left” behind, and now I am the 16-year-old welcoming the 7-year-olds.
One of the memories I remember was actually me crying during a class. We had to do this trick, which I had never learned before. Everyone was doing it with such ease and every time someone successfully did it, they cheered. I was the last one in line since I was also the smallest. When it came to me, I could feel all eyes on me. I stood there in embarrassment and tears started to flow down my cheeks. My sifu told me, I could do cartwheels (since that was a trick I loved doing). I cried harder and my sifu came rushing to me. He held me in his arms and told me it would be okay. He told me that it was okay if I didn’t know how to do the trick, and that I could just show off my cartwheels. After a minute, I started doing cartwheels. After my last one, everyone started cheering and jumping. They clapped and told me good job. I could even hear the parents clapping and cheering. I felt so proud in that moment, and after that I never cried again and did everything with confidence. This moment changed everything in
how I viewed a team. Ever since this incident, I knew what a team felt like. I knew that no matter what happened, I would always have a team behind me supporting me.
Over time I grew very close with my teammates. Sadly since they were all older, I had to see them slowly drift away. Every month the team would have one less of a person. They were busy with school, college prep and so much more. This team has taught me so much in life, and they still do. Every holiday we would send messages, and they would ask me how I was holding up. Even though they had their own lives, or lived across the country, they would still support me with anything I do.
Hi Daniela! Your mention of the unity that exists within your team causes me to reflect on the forms of unity that exist in a team setting. Reading the blog helps me recount the times in my life when someone’s kindness changed the way I saw the nature of the world and humankind. The way you stepped up to take responsibility for your team as the older individuals leave is commendable. The mechanism that you explain in the blog reminds me of the cycle of life philosophy, where the next generation rises to support the community after the last generation takes turns serving the people.
ReplyDeleteThe picture that you include with the blog complements the theme of your story nicely, even adding a personal component to the procedure, relating the theme of the tale to your life and how the picture has captured an integral part of your life. I like how you generally discuss the process of your kung fu journey in general by mentioning a very specific incident that caused your involvement in the kung fu experience to become stronger. Many would often tell you to forget the memories of crying; however, I believe that remembering these moments can often augment your strength and remind you of who you are as a person. Thank you for providing this opportunity to help me remember my moments of pressure and how I rose to the challenge.
Hi Daniela, I love how your blog highlights the, often underestimated, relationship between people and their team. Teams show up everywhere, from school to sports to later in life in office settings too. I'm a dancer and my dance team is very important to me because they are a big part of the reason why I enjoy dancing. They are almost like a second family to me because I basically grew up with them. We've all been dancing together since we were 6. Now we're all going to college and it is almost bittersweet to think about because we spent so much of our lives seeing each other constantly. We know how each other move when we dance and we know the sound of each others footsteps, we know the gait of each person's walk and their laugh and it is sad to think that in a year we might never cross paths again. I especially love that after so many years we are now always in synch even without much practice. We learn to expect each others movements and it's almost like when it comes to dance we share a mind.
ReplyDeleteHi Daniela, I love how your blog highlights the importance of relationships in a team setting. Members always come from everywhere from different backgrounds and all bring different perspectives. I'm a dancer and my company everyone has their "specialties" some people can balance very well while others can turn and jump very well. Growing up in the studio I would often be invited into the big studio to rehearse with the older students, now I'm the one inviting younger dancers into the studio. I love how teams always form a sense of a cycle where people come and go and traditions are passed down and new bonds that were never thought to be formed would be formed.
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