GrbicD1213


 * TENNIS PLAYERS DREAM **


 * Hello, my name is James Rush, I'm 20 years old and I like to introduce you to my life. I have lived in Miami Florida my whole life with my mom, my dad, my sister, and my two dogs. I’m fairly athletic; I mean to live so close to the beach you must keep yourself in good shape. My main sport is Tennis and I am pretty good at it. My dream was to be a pro Tennis player when I grow up but sadly that dream faded in the horizon. **
 * I started to play Tennis when I was five years old. Back then I could barely hold the racket straight. I remember the first time my dad took me out to hit, I hated it. The whole idea of Tennis seemed stupid to me. Hit the ball over the net looked pointless and boring to me, little did I know it would be the best feeling of my life. I can remember when the whole concept of tennis changed for me. It was when I was six, until then I could never hit the ball when it was moving, but at one practice that my dad took me to I finally hit the ball over and a thought hit me saying “I could get use to this.” **
 * A few years passed by really fast but I can't go into too much detail about it, but now I’m 12. The past few years were great. I had friends and I was getting pretty good at Tennis. Actually, when I was 12 I entered my first USTA L1 tournament (a USTA L1 is the highest tournament a junior tennis player can play) and that was the same year I got my first national rank. My national rank wasn't so great, like maybe 109 in the nation but it was a good start. **
 * A couple more years pass by and now I’m 16. I wish I could say that this year passed by with no problem but I can't. As a junior in highschool I had to be focusing on college but as a top ten nationally ranked player I also had to be focusing on Tennis. Juggling Tennis and school was not an easy task especially with a constant pain in my Achilles tendon, knees, and right elbow. This year did not go by smoothly. Either I was losing my national rank cause of my injuries no matter how hard I tried school was also going downhill. **
 * By age 17 I couldn't play Tennis anymore. It was pretty ironic too how this happened. It was a few hours after I went to see the doctor about my knee problem and he told me the after my surgery it should make a full recovery. After hearing that news I felt invincible again. A feeling that I haven't felt in very a long time. That same night I went to a party at my friend’s house to celebrate the great news. Little did I know there at the same party stood the face of death and that face was looking for its new target. Being a teenager I thought I was indestructible, but no one is indestructible. After the party I became a little drunk and it clouded my judgement. I thought I could drive home alone, but sadly I couldn't. That same night I got into a crash. The car flipped three times and broke my back causing me to never walk again. **
 * Now at age 20, I’m on my second year at Miami University. I got used to being in a wheelchair, but I will never forgive myself for that one night. I will never stop lecturing people on how one mistake can change your life. **