“How I Became an Athlete” by Raymond Pomponio is a very inspiring story. He describes how he plays on a baseball team and had never touched a baseball before in his life. He feels he is “no good,” the worst player on the team. But when he makes an amazing play in the outfield during the championship game, his confidence skyrockets and he begins to feel like a true component of this scrappy baseball team.

I found this story inspirational because I too play baseball as a right fielder. Sometimes I feel that I am not the greatest player on my team either, but every now and then I make a play and feel proud of myself, just like Raymond. I loved when he says “a good right fielder would know what to do … The only problem is, we don't have a good right fielder. We have me.” It is truly ironic that I have had this exact feeling when a ball comes my way. This piece helped me relate to Raymond in many ways and I realized he is very similar to me, just in a different place in the world. I loved the story for that.