Ethan Persaud - Athletics as a Biotransformative Experience

Sports has always been something that is near and dear to my heart. I have been playing soccer since I was five years old, and it is something that has always been important to me. That being said, it's been a topic that I have used to relate to this course on a number of occasions. At first that may seem like a stretch to a class discussing myths and mysticism, but there are more clear parallels to ideas we have discussed this semester than you would think. Sports plays a key role in personal transformation, with many moments in a sports career being biotransformative. A major win, a painful loss, devastating injuries, or even the training process of constantly practicing week after week to improve are all fundamentally things that change the way someone sees themselves. Everyone goes through these things, including myself in my own sports career. During my time playing soccer, I broke my tailbone during a game and it sidelined me for months. The road to recovery was a long and painful one, but eventually I got back to playing. However, the process to get back into shape mentally was even harder than the injury itself. While it felt hard in the moment, I now know this is a universal struggle that so many people have gone through themselves. This also connects strongly to our discussions of the hero’s journey because athletes also experience calls to action, trials, and eventual returns. There is often a moment where a player must decide whether they are willing to push beyond discomfort and continue growing. I experienced this personally pushing through many difficult times in my time playing soccer to continue. Eventually, it became too much for me and I had to abandon my dream, something that was a heartbreaking decision to make. These experiences forced me to develop discipline and resilience. Similar to the hero, growth in athletics rarely happens all at once in one dramatic moment. This is something that happens layer by layer through struggle and hardship. With that, I do really think that sports and athletics connect a lot to the topics in this class, which helped me understand the concepts a lot better throughout the semester.


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