The only thing that hurts my feelings is when people call me cocky. If those people actually tried to get to know me, they would understand that I’m very insecure about myself. When I play volleyball or basketball I see myself as confident not cocky. I see myself as the teammate everyone wants to be around and laugh with. It is very hard for me to be confident in myself, so once I hear someone say I’m cocky it tears me down, but it’s a good thing I have confident shoes.

Last winter, I was subbed out of a volleyball game because I was told I wasn’t tall enough to play front row. In the game of volleyball, normally the 6 foot girls play front row. I am 5 foot 7 not 6 foot. I started to become depressed because of my height. Normally girls don’t wish to be 6 foot, but I was and still am that girl wishing to be taller. When I needed someone my volleyball shoes were there for me. My volleyball shoes helped me walk off of the court when I didn’t want to. My volleyball shoes saved me from not crying. My volleyball shoes went through all of that pain with me. My volleyball shoes have accepted me for who I am.

Whenever I put on my shoes before a game I think back to the time when I got subbed out. I grab my right shoelace and wrap it around the left and pull. One breath in and one breath out. After I’m done tying my shoes I stand up and think to myself  “you are fast, you are strong, you are confident.”

At one point in your life though you have to take your shoes off. No one can have their confident shoes on forever. For example, I don’t see many people wearing shoes in their sleep or in a jumpy castle. But not being able to wear my volleyball shoes all the time has taught me to be confident without them. I walk prouder, stand taller, and talk louder. To this day I am more focused and trained because of the person who told me I am not tall enough. Getting subbed out of the game made me a different person, and I am thankful. I had to fall and catch myself to get back up again. Without that one sub I wouldn’t be the person I am now.

I still struggle just like everyone else with insecurity. I get so annoyed when people call me cocky because that is not me as a player or a person. I went through a hard time trying to get myself back in the groove again, but all I needed was confidence, and that is all I need to succeed in life. So the next time someone calls me cocky and not confident I’m going to tie my shoelaces and say “you are fast, you are strong, you are confident.” Some might say a shoe is just protection for the human foot, but I think a shoe is far more than just a shoe.