Struggle with Grades

I am a star football player at Lincoln Senior High which has sparked multiple universities interested in me playing football for them. I am currently a junior at 6 foot 2 inches, 265 pounds, and have one more season in high school. Recruiters are interviewing me and asking me tons of questions which are all fine till my transcript comes in to play. My transcript is like a fumble on the game winning play for the championship, terrible.

My grades will play a huge roll whether I am able to play football at the college level. The school counselor who is very tall and intimidating wants to have a meeting with me and my mother who is highly disappointed in me about my grades. This meeting is happening right after school at 3:05 pm. I am very nervous and expecting the worst to come out about me, but all this does not matter because I want to play football at least though college.

Judgment day has come; it is now time to see what my future fate will be. The counselor Mr. Nichols has confirmed his case to my mom about my horrible transcript. “Mathew Clemons,” hollered at my mom, who looked redder and madder than I have ever seen her before. “Why have you let your careless ways affect your future like this.”

I calmly stated, “Well mom I never really feel like doing any of the work that the teachers hardly explain.” Mr. Nichols stepped in to try and save my day from becoming anything worst then it already is.

“Sharon calm down a little, for a division 1 scholarship he needs to achieve a 2.5 GPA to be eligible. He currently has a 2.28 GPA. All he has to do is achieve a B in every class and he will be able to write his ticket anywhere he wants to go to college,” said Mr. Nichols.

“Well that does make me seem a little better about the situation but Mathew has to make the choice,” implied Sharon Clemons.

“Well we made progress and will continued this discussion at a later date. How does tomorrow at the same time work out for you?,” said Mr. Nichols.

“Great I’ll see you tomorrow at 3:05 right after school,” said Sharon Clemons.

The car ride home was pure agony with my mother. All she did was yell and scream about only having a 2.28 GPA. “You better step up your game or someone who may be less talented than you but better academically than you will take your dreams of playing football and make them their own. You hear me Matt,” said his mother.

“Ok mom I get it. I need to improve my grades and step up a bit,” I agreed. We had this argument over and over till we reached my home which is about 30 minutes out of Miami. I decided to please my mom so I got a jump on my work and actually did my homework for a change.

When dinner time came I went down and ate a little bit of my mom’s delicious casserole but ate it quietly. My mom was just staring at me wanting me to crack. I would not though because if I did it would prove to her she had complete control over me. I could not let that happen or she would basically become dictator while I’m her peasant. So I just ate quietly and cleaned up after I was done, showered and finished the rest of my work before I turned in.

I was lying in bed a while but could not sleep like there was something I could not forget to do. There was nothing I could think so just laid down and thought about the possibilities of maybe playing for the college teams that are great like Alabama, USC, or maybe even Michigan or Ohio State. These were drifting through my head and I finally dozed off.

The next morning was exactly like dinner the previous night. Not a word or sound from either my mom or me. She just I think may have given up. Even if she had, I would not let her know that I was feeling weak. I felt like no one was there for me anymore and that my mother was left heartbroken by the quietness. I left with that to think about and got in my car and drove to school. While driving to school I could not keep my mind on the road and barely made it to school safe. As I walked in to school I noticed that Mr. Nichols was standing at the door maybe waiting for me or something and I was right. “Mr. Clemons I need a minute with you in my office,” and I just went with him not knowing what to expect. “Mathew multiple colleges have contacted the school and requested a transcript and they were sent out accordingly and a few have responded. Would you like to know the response?,” said Mr. Nichols.

“Yes I have nothing to lose at this moment,” I said.

“Well a couple schools like LSU, Ohio State, Michigan, and Tennessee have all commented that you have no chance to improve your GPA to 2.5 in a year and have rejected you because of your grades. So many colleges including big D1 schools have sent back request the same as these. But only a couple have sent back good feedbacks like the only big name school interested is Alabama if you improve your grades to a 2.5 GPA,” said Mr. Nichols.

“Well that is good I guess I still have a chance to go to a big name school,” I said.

“Well you also may need to know that Alabama’s head coach Nick Saban wants to meet with you and your mom as soon as possible and since you will both be here the meeting will be today at 3:05 pm,” said Mr. Nichols.

“That is great I am really looking forward to this meeting now I have a chance to go to Alabama if I can get good grades,” I said. “Thanks for everything Mr. Nichols.” After that I left to go to my first class of the day and was antsy all day long. I couldn’t wait till the end of the day. It felt like an eternity for it to come but when it did I immediately went to see if the head coach was here. He was but was talking to my mom. All I was wondering was what she could be saying to him. I was worried that she may say something to mess up my chance at a college career. When they were done talking Mr. Nichols, my mom, and Nick Saban and I all went to have a discussion in Mr. Nichol’s office.

We all started by introducing ourselves. Mr. Nichols took over the conversation most of the time but I knew when my chance came I could not let it blow by. My mom was talking about the campus and how it feels like to live in Alabama. Mr. Saban just looked like he wanted to leave and he did and asked me to come with him. We were silent while we walked to my car because he did not have one because he flew in. I decided it would be best if he drove so I let him. “So Mathew I hear that you’re a very talented running back here at Lincoln. I would love your to play for Alabama because our old running back Mark Ingram graduated and now plays for the New Orleans Saints. We could prepare you to get to that level, but first you need to make better grades. Let’s have a little bit of a discussion over dinner, said Nick Saban.”

“Well I would love to go and eat a little and talk about my future football career possibilities,” I said. We drove to the nearest restaurant which was a local pizza place and ate and talked about everything good that can happen if I achieve a 2.5. I agreed with him and then we left. He covered the bill of course and he drove back while we were still having a discussion about my natural ability. The final thing he said to me was before his limousine came and got him was please do not let me down so just get better grades .

That inspired me to want to go and do better in school. Nick Saban coach of Alabama wants me to fill the role of NFL football star Mark Ingram who is built and plays the same style as me. I was honored and ecstatic at the same time that he said I could do it and encouraged me like he did.

I met with my mom and she saw how big a smile I had on my face and asked why I was so happy. I told her everything Nick had told me and she said that it could be all mine if I just continued to do well at football and get better grades. She also said if I achieved going to Alabama then I would have to make the NFL and treat her well and get her whatever she wanted and I agreed to. I drove home and met my mom at home and she had already made dinner and we ate not quietly today but very talkative and everything between us was good.

1 year 3 months later

It feels great to get a 2.57 GPA and finally be going down to Alabama to play football for Nick Saban. I am the best running back there and practice as the starter. I fit in very well and had no problem adjusting to the more intense play style. I am looking forward to the start of the season and more importantly the first day of classes. I want to try and achieve the same grades I did my senior year which was a 3.5 GPA.