My mother has always told me that you can be your best self, but you will never be complete riding through life alone. She emphasized the importance of surrounding yourself with others that will only support you. A unit of uplifting and positive people to ride through life with. Essentially, everyone needs a team.
Webster Dictionary defines the term teamwork as work done by several associates with each doing a part but all subordinating personal prominence to the efficiency of the whole. My personal definition of teamwork is a bit different. The power of teamwork has become crystal clear to me throughout the course of my young (and sometimes reckless) life. Without the balance and consistency of collaborating with others, life would be dulling and useless.
In the 9th grade, I transferred to a private school in my city. Not knowing a single person initially, I felt very intimidated and scared. I told my mom that I couldn’t stand going to a school where I felt alone. A couple weeks into the semester, I made the basketball team, and they immediately became my soul mates. We did everything together – on and off the court. Fast forward to graduation last spring: before walking across the stage to grab my diploma, I turned around to see that my teammates were behind me walking across the stage, and always behind me walking through life. Whether you are a part of a sports team, academic team, or you just have a great social network – you should hold onto them, because you never know when you’ll need each other most.
Teamwork also could be a big factor in delivering a successful public deliberation. Without a balance of effort from the entire group, we will not be able to perform to our full potential. This means that it is a shared effort – everyone should contribute an equal amount. I cannot wait to see how our deliberations pan out, seeing that teamwork is something I clearly value tremendously!
It’s really great that you were able to find your place on a team at high school. Personally, I made life-long friends on my soccer and robotics teams. Teams from sports or clubs are great ways to gain important skills that can be applied to teamwork in school, jobs, and everyday life. Learning to work well with everyone on your team is imperative to win games, but it is also important when working with any team in general.
I love how well you connect to this whole topic! I moved from one school to another when I was in 7th grade, so right at the start of my middle school years I didn’t know anyone either. I found my little team in the music program at my school, but we worked together in the same way you did with your basketball team. We stayed together through all of high school as well, and learned about school and life by using our skills and knowledge as a group.