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Nose Essay
A: Marguerite, the Countess of Blessington, once said, "There is no cosmetic for beauty like happiness." Her bit of wisdom rings true in respect to my battered nose. The marred olfactory bulb in the middle of my face reflects a peculiar beauty and a feeling of profound personal satisfaction. For my nose has been pummeled in the sports arena, a place I dearly love. It is my badge of honor. Each bump and dent represents a cherished time in my life that has helped me grow emotionally stronger while at the same time defining me as a person.
However, I did not always feel this way. As a young girl, my flawed nose was an object of discontent. The first injury to my nose occurred during a softball game at the age of ten. I was playing in my first competitive league and was learning the proper technique to field a ground ball. I was determined to do whatever it took not to let the ball by me. An opposing player, as if on target, hit the ball directly at me. I kept my glove on the ground, as I had been taught, but the bouncing ball took a bad hop. The only way for me to stop the ball was to stay exactly where I was-- and it socked me right in my nose. It hurt, but I made the play while at the same time receiving my first battle wound.
Although the coach would remind me to catch the ball with my glove and not my face, this same situation has repeated itself many times during my softball career. I would become more upset each time my nose took a beating. However, along with that anger came pride from being successful and happiness from playing the game I love most. And because of this, I have recently realized that my nose contains a kind of aesthetic beauty that can only be found in something that holds such deep meaning.
This discovery has been enhanced through my participation in the physically grueling sport of basketball. Being five foot three, I am one of the shortest players on the court. Unfortunate as it is for the tall forwards (and my nose), my favorite activity to is to rebound. When the ball hits the back of the rim, I want to retrieve it at all costs. There have been many painful memories that made me angry, but a recent one in the 2001 Missouri State High School Championships comes to mind because it made me proud. I finally had entered the game in the third quarter and wanted desperately to make a big play. When my teammate took a shot that missed, I ran into the forest of large bodies for the rebound. Making one, long heart-felt lunge for the ball, I dove and the opposing team's six foot plus center's knee caught me in the nose. Despite her height advantage, I was able to screen her from the ball, grab the rebound and get fouled. From the perspective of a short and increasingly mature basketball player, I had achieved an enormous feat and considered the injury to my nose to be well worth it.
Throughout my childhood, I considered plastic surgery every time I injured my nose. My parents promised me that when my sports' career ended, they would allow cosmetic surgery. However, I have matured over the last few years and have come to realize that my nose is a part of who I am. It represents who I used to be, who I have become, and the character I have attained by overcoming any obstacles, physical or emotional, which have stood in my way. It represents the little girl who would never end a game without dirtying her uniform and also the high school athlete whose desire to win overshadows everything else. When I was younger and would be hit in the face with a ball, my dad would say, "It only builds character." I never understood what he meant and would dismiss his comment as a joke to lift my spirits, but I now know the true extent of the meaning behind those words. My nose is beautiful for all of these reasons, but most of all, because it represents hard work and success-the two things that make me happier than anything else in the world.
By: Kara Thaw
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