Comparison and Contrast Example

I was always among the few girls in our gym class that wanted to be there. I could see why, of course, because I could play every sport that was directed at us to play. There were always the same girls every year, the class list at the beginning of the semester never surprised me, and I could automatically pick out the ones that were there for the free time it offered. At the time, I was frustrated, who were these girls to ditch class every second day? Who were these girls to sit inactively on the bench with immovable frowns and scowl at those of us who tried? I never thought twice about who we'd turn out to be, and then today, I began to see how I was so conceitedly wrong. Their were two types of women in girls phys-ed, the ones that tried and the ones that did not. The ones who tried were the athletes, born to raise hell on the court or the field or in the pool, and they enjoyed each activity as they were instructed too. I was among those girls, and found myself arrogantly proud of our differences, for we were cool, and they were not. The ones who did not try wore their gym clothes with accessories, and refused to tie their hair in pony's because they would not work up a sweat any how. I often glared at the girls who stood against the wall, searing a message into their brains with my eyes; Wish you could play like this huh? What a disdainful load of hooey, was I so blind? I saw only one way to be popular, to be cool, and that was to be involved, to be an athlete. I never paused to see that those who could not play, played instruments, sang in choirs, lit up the stage with musicals and comedic short plays, or exceeded grade point averages in the math's and sciences I could never keep up in. Since then I have overcome my days of singular athletic mindsets, and have witnessed the "girls who never tried" become icons of equally special talents, excelling in many areas. I suppose it was a matter of maturity that keep me aloof from the finer lesson here, that we all excel in special areas that should never be underestimated. I share many of the same interests as "the girls who never tried", yet I will always cling to my knack for competition; just without the hoity-toity attitude.