Elijah Wills
Dr. Despain
Transdisciplinary Comm.
15 September 2023
The Life of Sport for Elijah Wills
I was born in a small but big town named Decatur Illinois. I was born on a cold snowy Monday of December on the 6th of the month. As I came into the world I was always told that I would be different and I would make a difference for my city. Although I have to go back and let you know more about my city. Decatur, IL is a town that many people know as a corn and soybean money kingpin. The city although is one most people try to stay away from because of the violence and the drug rate around the city. Where I am from in the city I have seen a lot just in my 18 years of living and what I have been through most adults will never face in their lives. The neighborhood I’m from is on the 1300 block of hickory on the east side of the town. This is where I became a man and learned how to survive in life and things that you can not learn in a classroom. Although like I said I have seen a lot of stuff that will mess people up but to me that was just life as I knew it.
Although we as a family could have moved because we had the money and the income to do so my grandparents have been living in that neighborhood their whole lives and did not feel as though they needed to. So I was brought home from the hospital and started a life that people where I’m from wished they had. In the hood I was from there was a lot of talent in all sports and schooling but they had never had the opportunity to show that on a big stage. For me though the hood knew that I was different from all the other kids that had come before me. They knew that I loved to play sports and to be outside crafting and spacing my body and mind to perfect any sport I was playing at the time. They knew that I was going to be the kid that put the city on the map and make sure that my family would be straight forever. That’s why since whenever I can 
Although I have had this drive instilled in me since I was a kid, I had times where I did not know if this path was what I wanted to do. Like anything or anyone that is trying to make a name for themselves and trying to do right in life you’re going to have haters. You’re going to have people that try to knock you off your mark and try to tear down all that you have built. Though that’s where I had to learn to have tough skin and stick with my goals, because at the end of the day I was the only one that had to come home and loved what I saw in the mirror and was happy with the man I was becoming. In middle school is where I had my first taste of the haters and the people that hate just because they were not blessed with the talents that you have. In football, baseball, and anything I played at the time I was at the top I was the “Big Dog on the Block”. With being that person I had to be him everyday because if I was not I had people coming for me and they were coming to take me out.
Highschool. High School was a place that I had to learn and learn quickly that I am the best me and there is no one like me. Freshman year was a year that I will remember for the rest of my life. I was going through the toughest time of my life with the women in my life and the wellness of my grandmother had made my life horrid. I had to balance the life of a new high school student and an upcoming star on the football team and all the lies in between with my regular life. I became a monster on the field to cope with the pain that I had built up inside. I put on a mask for people but deep down I was a hurt young man learning how to become a man. I stayed in the weightroom also to just keep my mind, because when it was just me and the weights I could tell them everything that was going on and they would never judge me or shame me for what I told them. By me doing this I mean a name for myself in the school and that name was Big E. My next two years of high school I killed because I had finally learned how to manage my life and football. I became the starting defensive end for my school’s varsity football team and a role player for the baseball team. 
