Many things have contributed to shaping my identity and making me the person I am. The most influential thing that has shaped me is my culture. One of the biggest pieces of my culture that has done this is my participation in sports. Of the sports I play, high school football is the one that has shaped me the most. High school football shaped my identity by making me more social, a leader, and open-minded to diversity. Football has guided me in many ways to become the person I am. Especially in high school, sports showed me how to be much more cooperative and open with others. Before high school, I isolated myself from others and only had a few close friends. Instead of being sociable, I acted like I was the only person in the world and had the belief that as long as I do what is right individually, I don't need to work with others. This perspective changed when I joined the football team at Holy Spirit, my high school. With the way football is at the high school level, I had no choice but to cooperate and associate with others. Once on the pitch, instead of presenting myself as “me” I had to present myself as part of the team. You win as a team and you lose as a team. Sometimes I wanted to go to the games myself and I wasn't allowed because we have to travel together and it would be a disservice to the team if I separated myself from the group. After taking a more active part in high society at school, I noticed that he had become more of a leader than me with...... middle of paper ......n Spanish. Being forced to be on a team with them made me learn to collaborate with them and I ended up becoming good friends with most of them. I met two of my dear friends Vic and Promise, both African Americans, through football and it might never have happened if I hadn't been part of the team. I'm not the only person who has made cross-racial friends through soccer. In the article “School sports are a safety net for young people: less active young people often have trouble coping with life,” says Richard Lapchick “As overt acts of racism and the number of hate groups at school increase, survey shows team sports create bonds that cross racial lines; 76% of all white and African American student-athletes say they have become friends with someone from another racial or ethnic group while playing sports.."