Jim O Connor's Influence On Me Essay

“A dream without work is just a dream,” he told us,” if you don’t put the work in, you can’t reach your goals. Simple.” These are the words of Jim O’Connor, a youth and JV lacrosse coach in the Jamestown-High Point area. When I am faced with an obstacle that begs me to give up, his quote echoes in my head. After years of his coaching, my admiration for O’Connor is deeper than simply pushing past exhaustion or forcing myself to do homework; his influence has made me a better a person. Moreover, I believe that his impact on me is only so deep because I chose to admire him. In this case, I observed that deciding who one admires allows for a heavier influence. Rather than having a relationship of circumstance, like a parent and a child, my decision to admire Jim O’Connor ultimately separates him from other leading figures in my life. The fact that I chose to admire him allowed his lessons to have a deeper effect on me personally. Much like how one becomes more like the friends they choose to be with the most, the influence by a person one admires slowly builds over time and exposure. For example, lacrosse coupled with O’Connor’s coaching completely changed my character going into high school. I was introduced to lacrosse in the seventh grade as an overweight and unmotivated
I was attending my brother’s graduation at the end of my freshman year. My mother had been concerned with my future as a varsity player because of my small stature compared to the six-foot- plus giants in our conference. She addressed her grievances to Coach O’Connor in person (much to my embarrassment). But where she had seen flaws, he saw advantages; O’Connor was quick to point my speed and how I was probably the “smartest person on the field at a time.” Again, his actions struck me and he had fully earned my admiration. This decision opened a door in which I would try to live my life with O’Connor’s lessons in