Shawn Loaiza
Professor Cagnolatti
English 100
31 Jan 2014 Three Jewels in the rough Being the eldest of six siblings and cousins I was the one that had to set the example, this was the role I had to fill and this was what my great grandmother had instilled into my mind. I never thought of being the one to lead by example I always wanted to play around with my football and hot wheels, watch Dragon Ball Z, Pokémon, and Tom and Jerry all night long. But one night I remember vividly being in the kitchen while my granny was cooking dinner one Sunday night. My granny pulled me to the side while she told me to set up the table, and told me “Son in life you must work hard, and work hard for what you love, and when things get hard you never ever give up on what you love, you give it your best and when you think that you have given it your best you continue till you get what you deserve, you hear me Jr?” I told her “I do” How ironic? Like marriage, I would carry those words to death. I was only 11 at the time, and I felt like Goku from Dragon Ball Z with a mission that embarked on a journey filled with problems. But I would have that warrior ambition just like Goku, being humble and fight till the end for what he loved. I never knew why she told me what she had told me but I was soon to find out why when I fractured my jaw in four different places.
Knowing that let me start off by telling this story with my heart. I have an enormous love for Football there is this passion that drives me to be the best that I can be, the relationships built, the atmosphere, the feeling of winning, having exerted all physical and mental even spiritual energy in a game makes my love grow. I love working hard in the weight room to achieve that inner satisfaction that feeling of accomplishment. I felt exhausted and fatigue during those hot summer practices. I remember chilling in the team room with the Air- conditioner on playing X-box until next practice, Clowning around, joking with teammates, having ciphers with beats made out of lockers and dumpsters and helmets and benches. All that determination seeped out my pores. The idea that I was the life of the party, the main attraction now was in jeopardy. 5’11,155 lbs., forty time 4.3, light skin nice cut brownish-black hair, smooth face, stitches above the left eye slightly beneath the eyebrow. Athletic build academically smart, flirt with the girls, these are the attributes that built me and went with the title “Jock” Like the thriller in the sea that preys on his lunch, Jawz is my name and was given to me in the 10th grade. No was never an answer for me. I had a strong will, a sense of a warrior. I was a humble determined young man with a goal, a plan, and a future. But let me tell you how this all came so vividly to how I became, how I gained knowledge, understanding, and wisdom from what my granny had told me.
It was our first game of regular season the morning sunrise’s glare stabbed my eyes as I awoke; I reached for the blinds to close the blinding glare. Today wasn’t any ordinary day, today it was quiet too quiet, there were no birds chirping like any other day. The world felt as if it were rolling like smooth marbles down a pot-hole infested hill in San Francisco, because time was rushed and I was running in and out my room back into the kitchen back into the restroom back into my room bumping into my brothers. We had a small house with big numbers. I was so groggy, so I had to prepare mentally by listening to Lil Wayne the Carter Three, which just came out. Today we were going to play John Glen a school in Norwalk and I was pumped I was ready.
Later on that day school was going great, lunch was almost on its way and game time was creeping closer and closer. The lunch bell had ringed and it was time to get even more focused for the game. My stomach was churning, my sweat glands were going into overdrive, yet the sun was still beaming, it was as hot as the devils toenails, it was 97 degrees. In the locker room Coach Estorres gave a last check as we were getting ready to board the bus. I was the last person to leave the locker room like always. We were on the bus and we were five minutes away from Glen. My friend Davion, Theo, and Darant were pumping me up on the bus, like always they were saying “What are you going to do something this game bro-bro? Who are you going to hit Today???” and like always I fell for it, my warrior-like mentality accepted the challenge and I got pumped up even more. This was a normal routine to have a chip on my shoulder every time I suit up for football. Davion told me “Bro we are going to smash these guys out the water man these guys are super weak they Booboo” I was like “yea bro we about to get these dudes and smash them” as we got our stuff out from beneath the bus.
Soon after, the first quarter was about to start and I was ready, ready for war. I was flying everywhere, smacking people left and right. On kickoff I made a huge hit, and my chinstrap snapped off completely. The force generated from the impact sounded like a car accident on the freeway. I was flying and all you heard was a huge boom and silence for five seconds and then both sidelines grew and erupted out loud “OOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooo!!” The guy fell to the floor and I got up pumped adrenalin was pumping furiously threw my body. The warrior inside me was screaming with fury “Don’t test me!” The next play was defense and I started so I was out there at free safety. We got the play from the sideline; it was Cover 1 (man). Everybody had someone to themselves and I had the running back. I timed the snap perfectly…..The sun was bright, the clouds were out of sight, the breeze felt great as sweat fell down my forehead……I read the snap perfectly and ran freely through the line of scrimmage, untouched I thought to myself at the moment “Wow I’m passed the linemen on to the next level oh snap where is the ball I mean where is the running back”, Boom it hit me where is the ball? The QB had the ball and he was handing it off to the running back my man .Boom! I hit the running back. I closed my eyes for a second and opened them in my head I told myself “Shawn keep your feet moving man you got this guy in your grasp he is yours keep the feet moving bro you got this” Boom pop blank darkness, it was like being trapped in a box inside a bigger box inside a closet full of coats on the hanger, under a dark bridge in the midst of a dark haunted forest with a slight blur ray of white light coming from the moonlight in the creases of the cracks in the boxes which I have feel into, Pandora’s box. I was lost, lightheaded, and to top it off I was on my back. I tried to re-gather the information from what I thought had happened and go back to the huddle. Well I couldn’t, I blacked out that’s most of what I remember…“Shawn, Shawn Bro Wake Up???? “Shawn Wake up” Gio was standing over me shaking me from my shoulders. “What, What Gio What do you want man” “Shawn get up man “I got up and he walked me to the sideline.
Immediately I felt pain in my mouth and I felt like I had one thousand fuzzy caterpillars walking furiously in my chin, like the people of New York walking furiously to work and this feeling was in my mouth. It was Broke my jaw was broken I knew it right off the bat it felt weird. I couldn’t pronounce my S’s my tongue was completely numb. I went to the hospital right away. And while I was in the emergency room I was put to sleep all I remember was the nurse telling me to count to ten backwards and I got to eight until I was completely out. I awoke with my family on my bedside everyone was teary and I didn’t know what was going on I was like a puppy at store being sold to a family of nine children and everyone is talking and I couldn’t reply. My mouth was wired shut, I was like a worthless friend if you told me something I could only give you an “umm” and an “ummhhhmmm”. I was a walking mummy just without the toilet tissue. The doctor told everyone but my mother to step out of the room and the doctor told us, me you will never be able to play a contact sport in your life. I broke out with sobs of a true man, like they say true men cry, and these tears peeled my skin as they swiftly rolled down my face I was scared. I took that all in to consideration and the doctor told me just quit football and play something else. He gave me a brochure with non-contact sports. “I was like oh my god you’re wasting your time it’s pointless. Don’t waste your effort on trying to enlighten me with the brochure man”
Finally, I went to church and ask god for the power to choose I asked him to enlighten me and to give me the path, to give me the strength to overcome this obstacle in my life. Days went by, games went by, and life was going by me. I told myself that I’m going to do me I’m going to do it until it’s over, I’m never going to accept No for an answer, I told myself I am going to live life to the fullest. I told myself this because I had haters the usual skeptics I told them point the skeptics out, I’ll make them a believer, I thought to myself I’m going to prove these so called skeptics wrong and shut them all up and be successful in life. Twelve hard weeks have come and gone and I was going to play football once again. I came back with vengeance, fury, and with regret.
Why did I come back with vengeance regret and fury well during those twelve weeks I had my mouth wired shut and still had to go to school. I went to school as directed but guess what problems I had to face, I couldn’t defend myself with my words but instead I had to defend myself with my actions like my granny told me “Actions speak louder than words”. In high school I was the main attraction and I held the light, yes I had haters and they saw the opportunity. I was defenseless as they talked about me right in front of my face like I couldn’t understand the language that they were speaking. Their true colors began to show and I wasn’t going to forget those harsh words and days during nutrition and lunch being laughed at joked about and being teased. One vivid memory that still to this day hurts me to the core goes like this. I had a Spanish speaking class and we just got done taking the AP test we all scored three and better and as promised our teacher told us he would buy us In and Out, well he did and on top of that they ate it all in my face. “Yummmmm” “smack smack smack Sluuuurp do you want some ohhh yeah you can’t have any, aww that sucks for you do you want us to leave you alone? Nawwww this is too fun” and guess what my favorite place to eat is? In and out this hurt me to the core, they struck me in my heart the savages. I was hurt because I’m a fat boy I love food especially food that just smells delicious, at this point I began to tear up and had to leave class. But let me tell you as I walked to the front office thoughts where rushing in and out my head the laughter and faces was continuing to play over and over since my class was way in the back of the school. So I reach the office and the ladies in the front desk made things even more difficult, they told me I couldn’t leave or use the phone to call my mother to pick me up. I had written on my notebook what had happened and told them if they could call my mother since I couldn’t speak. I was emotionally hurt and couldn’t defend myself I couldn’t clear my mind at this point I was filled with anger I was going to explode. Immediately in that instant in my head, I heard my granny’s voice talking to me “Son in life you must work hard, and work hard for what you love, and when things get hard you never ever give up on what you love, you give your best and when you think that you have given your best you continue till you get what you deserve, you hear me Jr?” I suddenly lost all those memories and pain that was inside killing me softly. The anger that grew inside of me went away and reflected on what I just heard accepted my faith.I fought those thoughts and went supersain 2, I evolved and took the name Jawz and fed the beast inside me with the laughter and jokes and told myself “ Imaa get it you got this let the haters fuel your ambition let it fuel your determination let it be your motivation but do it all with god and love” Like my granny told me, so I did I was officially named Jawz everyone and their Mom called me Jawz or was like “you were that guy that broke his Jaw Wow you are crazy and you’re still playing football I would have been quit You are special and I look up to that that’s motivational.” The hardship and perseverance I had went through in those twelve weeks and having faith and understanding of what I wanted digging deep inside my thoughts hearing and understanding what my granny had told me gave birth to a new me that gained knowledge of self, understanding, and wisdom ; My three precious jewels