I’ve never revealed this story to my friends. I was afraid of how my reputation could have been impacted if they had known about the conflict I dealt with. Typically, they’d joke around calling me “emotionless” and, saying I have never had to fight with myself because of this. Even today I can still be quite shy and reserved. However, thinking back to the memory that still shrouds my mind every once and a while, I still wonder what would have happened if I had chosen another path. Almost seven years previously from today, I made a decision that drastically changed my life. I groaned as I was thrown onto my backside for about the third time during football practice. My head was consumed by sweat as if I had just run a marathon. Slower than the last two times, I managed to get up from my feet as I sluggishly shuffled back over to get in line. My coach stared at me. His eyes were dark and upset. As I approached the back of the line, he called me over to him to talk to him in “private.” I trudged over to him to see what he had to say. What he said to me was extremely embarrassing at the least. He asked me if I was giving all I got. Still being the young, introverted boy at the time, I placed my hands slightly behind my back, clenching my fists in anger and embarrassment. The amount of shame and disgrace I experienced was as easy to pick out as a football player playing in a fútbol match. The coach could easily recognize the conflict within me. He told me to look at him and