What is a stupid question??

Is there such thing as a stupid question? I’ve always been told that there is no such thing as a stupid question, but when you really stop to think about it, there are a lot of stupid questions. Being a small freshman on the soccer team with a bunch of upper class men and not really knowing them, it was pretty intimidating. Going from a middle school team that didn’t take practices seriously and played world cup every friday, to a highschool team where you could laugh and not pay attention, but be ready to run if that’s what you wanted to do. The practices are a lot harder, the teams are harder and the realization of what you were working for was a lot more clear. In middle school, you felt as if you were able to ask how to do a drill and why you were doing it, but in highschool, you get it first time and don’t ask questions. You didn’t want to ask a question and seem like the one who didn’t know what they were doing, you wanted to show the coaches and upper class men that you knew it all and were going to be the best when you were a senior.

It felt as if everyone else knew exactly what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. Being a freshman, it is like walking for the first time, failing over and over again until you get it right. Not wanting to ask a question and seem stupid or weird in front of all the cool upper class men was common for us, me especially. I kind of just went along with what everyone was doing and making it seem like I knew what I was doing. Summer soccer came around and you felt more at home, knew what to do and had fun with it.

Preseason sophomore year came around and you felt as if you needed to get back into the groove of things. You knew what to do for the most part and weren’t as afraid to ask questions. You were more friendly with the older kids and the coaches knew your name and your skills. You had a spot on the team that meant something to you and to everyone else. This was your year to prove that you knew what you were doing. Next year is Varsity and you need a good spot, you need to give it your all this year. You can’t make mistakes, you need to show them you are ready for the big games. You didn’t want to make the coaches think that you weren’t ready, you start building bonds with your team that you will have forever. This is the year to prove yourself.

Junior year, our time to show the others we knew what to do, start being leaders.We were the ones that the younger kids went to if they didn’t feel like they could go to the coach. We started team bonding and we also got a new coach which helped. Coach Young really encouraged us to bond with each other so that we were able to ask questions to the freshman and have them ask us questions. No more questions were being asked by us because we knew it all. we were the ones who showed the freshmen what to do. It is a feeling that is nice because you know how they are feeling and how they want to ask questions but not knowing how to ask.

Senior year, we were the big guys on campus, the best season the school has had in forever, 13-1 in the season and an attempt to defend our MVC champ title. We were the ones being asked questions, encouraging questions, teaching the younger players new skills and doing team bonding. We are no longer scared freshmen worried about asking a stupid question, we were the ones who knew what the freshmen would ask and asked for them so they knew it was okay to ask questions.

Knowing what it is like to be the small freshmen with a bunch of seniors being worried about asking questions and now being seniors knowing how the freshman feel, it makes connecting with them easier and being able to show them what to do so they don’t have to ask questions easier. Growing throughout the years and seeing the progress of grades below us is really cool to see. We have taught them how to be an effective communicator and be able to express what they want to.