Essay from a student

How chess has changed my life

            My life was completely changed the first day I played chess in eighth grade. Within one year I began playing chess competitively and have never stopped. My life was utterly changed by the way chess helped me slow down and think about all the possibilities before jumping into a task. Chess also helped me build a strong team bond with all of my teammates. Lastly, chess taught me strong leadership abilities while I was president of the chess club.

            If you learn one thing from playing chess, it is take your time and look over every possibility before acting. This is why many jails and community correctional institutes offer chess to the inmates at the institution. “It forces you to think in difficult situation, you can’t just react,” said Davis an inmate serving in Howard County Detention Center. Making people slow down and think not only helps people play chess, it can help people make wiser decisions in everyday life like financial investments and choices that might lead them into trouble.

            Creating a strong team bond is one of the most important traits you can acquire because no matter where you work or what you do, there is always a team of people around you helping you with the task. Over the course of four years that I spent in my high school chess club I have met new people and have created friendships that will never go away. A strong team bond is like having a second family. No matter what happens, you can always count on your team to be there and support you during tough times.

            The last thing that I developed while in chess club is leadership skills. I served as the president of the Wood River High School Chess Team during my junior year, 2009 – 2010. While president some of my many responsibilities were to show up early to home tournaments to help set up, teach people how to play chess while in club, and to always support the team and keep a positive outlook within chess club. This skill will be invaluable while being in charge of a project.

            The way chess has changed my view and way of life is immeasurable and will have lifelong effects. Chess has taught me to slow down and consider all my options has kept me out of trouble and has led to many wise investments. I will never forget the friends that I have made in chess club and the way we all bonded and worked together as one during chess tournaments. The greatest contribution that chess has made to my life is the experience that I gained from being the president of my state winning chess team.