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Alison Mason
Mrs. Gardner
English 10, Period 4
19 January, 2015
Sticks and Stones May Sprain My Bones
"Hahaha, I'm just kidding Alison." A phrase that seemed to sprout far too often from
conversation. A phrase that seems like the right thing to say when in reality it comes after the
wrong thing. But how could you get enraged at someone for merely kidding? How could you be
courageous and strong when others only see you as weak? Finding the strength to stand up to
words is always a challenging obstacle, especially in circumstances when you can't even stand.
It was Friday in the chilled morning during zero period PE. It was the final day of flag
football and I was playing on the non-competitive field with my friends and all the less
competitive kids. I volunteered to be quarterback and my friend Desiree whispered, "Just run the
ball." prior to it being hiked. So I took the ball and began sprinting; I was inches away from
scoring the touchdown when I stumbled over a classmates foot and felt my body rolling through
the air and smacking the tough concrete. My first thought to myself was to not cry and stand-up
so I didn't come across weak. People asked if I was okay and I said "Yeah!" And laughed it off.
My teacher had me go to locker room to clean up my oozing cuts and sit down since I was
becoming dizzy. I felt that my ankle was sore but I was more concerned on my nearly heroic
football play and the asphalt on my head. When I hobbled back to the portable classroom, my
ankle continued to throb so I looked down to see that it was swelling, as if a balloon was
beginning to expand on the side of my foot. When we were changing, I continued to glance at the
rapidly expanding ankle. My friends advised that I should probably see the nurse so I slowly

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hobbled to the office, which happen to be of the opposite side of campus, and they told me to
have my mom come pick me up. By the time we got to Kaiser, my ankle had increased to the
size of a softball and that was no exaggeration. The doctor gave me a black, bulky walking boot
and crutches to help me regain walking ability and told me to check back in a few weeks. I had
no clue how much I would mourn for my normal walking abilities.
So many things in life are easily taken advantage of and have just become a part of typical
life for such a large majority. You never truly appreciate a car until you are forced to trek all the
way to school. You never truly appreciate gmo-filled, sugar crusted Oreos until someone ate the
last one. You never truly appreciate a good friend until you are left to stand up to a bad one. You
never truly realize the importance of internal strength until you realize you lack it.
I obviously did not pass natural selection in the ankle department so when we left the
doctors I thought it was only fitting to throw myself a pity party and watch The Fault in Our
Stars so I could sob endlessly. Augustus Waters had one leg and I had only one functioning one
so we were obviously very compatible and it was easy to relate myself to him. I thought I would
be in the boot for four weeks maximum but to put a spin on what Effie Trinket said, the odds
were never in my favor and four weeks slowly turned to nine, creating the hardest and longest 66
days of my life. Days filled with more doctors appointments and ankle recovery articles than my
mind could even begin to comprehend.
The ankle is a large joint that joins your talus, tibia, and fibula together and gives your
foot the range of motion to move. Ankles are what allow us walk and stand, and the stronger the
ankle, the less chance you have of spraining or injuring it. I had been told by a great deal of
people, "Wow you have really flat feet." Or "Bummer, looks like you got your dad's weak
ankles." All of these things mean nothing until they actually have a direct relation to your life. I

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use to come across other injured people who had to use crutches and automatically thought to
myself, Those weak fakers, I bet they can walk. But as soon as I became that weak faker, I had
a deeper appreciation for those that were involuntarily living the temporary crippled life.
Typically everything in life, like ankles, works better, last longer, and can withstand more
the stronger it is built. Somethings need training to gain external strength, like your body.
Gaining mental strength does not come with a few push-ups or crunches; you gain mental
strength from courage and the realization for the necessary change and experiences that build
you up. I can easily call myself an emotional push-over for the fact that I cant defend myself
with the worry that I would be hurting the other person. I have come home from school dozens
of times and burst into tears because of the cruel jokes I heard being made toward myself and
others. By the time I heard, Is that your maternity dress? and Oh well its probably because
youre Mexican. all in the same day, I knew that enough was enough. Sometimes it just takes
that one experience to make you realize the importance of your strength.
One of my most memorable experiences with the boot happens to be Homecoming;
luckily the dress I picked matched my boot so that left one less thing to worry about. But
Homecoming was also the time I got to spend a night of dance with the fear of crushing every
barefoot in my range with my massive boot. There was not a chance I was going to miss a night
packed with laughs, singing, and memories with all of my closest friends just because of a
largely inflated ankle and bruised toes that looked like a purple tie-dye creation. I'm glad they
played Drake's song "Forever" because as he says 'Like a sprained ankle boy I ain't nothing to
play with'. And I quickly discovered sprained ankles are not made for playing or for dancing;
They are made to support you and carry you through life.

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Standing up for yourself isn't always against mean joke and mean people; sometimes
standing up has to do with something going on inside of you. When I sprained my ankle, the
incident fell right at the beginning of the volleyball season, volleyball being one of my favorite
activities to play. My next ankle appointment occurred two weeks before the end of the season. I
was hopeful to recover quickly and get to play one last game. When the appointment rolled
around, I was about to overflow with optimism but left feeling like a deflated balloon. The
haunting boot would remain with me for a minimum of three more weeks. After a few days of
reflecting about everything I'd miss, it made me feel so impotent and frustrated that I allowed
myself get injured. Not only could I not stand up by myself without being in pain but I couldnt
handle my own self guilt.
Sometimes you have to be assertive with your self on the inside and not let yourself
become too gloomy. You could mope around and enter a somber and lugubrious state or you can
realize what you do have and what you can do to make things as best as you can. It was
bittersweet when I got my boot off after 66 days. I would no longer be the weakest link in the PE
sports and or have to worry about crushing the toes of dancing classmates. I would no longer
have the protection and the support to stand but it was time for my weakened ankle to be freed
and built back to normal. I would now be reliant on my own capability and strength to regain
myself. Realizing what is fragile is the first step but the second one is making a change.