Essay #7

 The Sacrifices That Come With Joy:

An Essay About How I Sacrificed My Time To Teach Kids Jump Rope Over Winter Break

Pine Point School

Ninth Grade English

January 5, 2012

By Schyler Davis

           Have you ever sacrificed time to teach somebody, help somebody, inspire somebody?  Over Winter break I went to the BP Learn Center in New London to teach kids how to jump rope. I sacrificed some time over break, but I think it was worth it.
           I was once a little fourth grader, who was inspired by the sport of jump rope, amazed at all the tricks that were done in the ropes, and over break I had the opportunity to inspire others kids by teaching them how to jump rope. My mom and I donated some jump ropes to the BP Learn Center, which is an after school program, and we set up a time we could come back and teach kids how to jump rope. When we went back, all the kids remembered who we were because the jump rope team did a performance there a couple weeks before. It was wonderful to see and hear about how they were motivated by our performance, trying to teach themselves how to jump rope, practicing on their own, and wanting to learn more. I taught about 20 lower school kids, girls and boys, different single rope and double-dutch tricks, and it was a great success. Some of them would get frustrated because they couldn’t do the tricks or jump rope, but I told them not to get discouraged and to keep practicing because I was once a beginner jumper myself. They all were so inspired by the sport of jump rope and by what my mom and I taught them that they decided to start a club.  I sacrificed my time to teach them, I sacrificed other activities I could have been doing that morning, but I wouldn’t change what I did. I know it meant a lot to them for me to help them learn how to jump, and I will never forget when I was in the grocery store with my dad, and a little girl pointed at me and said, “You’re a jump roper! You taught me at my after school program.”  I was so proud of the sacrifice I made, and I want to go back again.
           I made a sacrifice, but to me, it didn’t seem like a sacrifice. It seemed like a choice to motivate and inspire someone who looks up to me. I am glad I went and taught kids how to jump rope at the BP Learn Center of winter break because I helped them and they helped me become a better person.