Uma Bagoros

Student

Hi! My name is Uma, I’m 17 years old, and I’m from Mendoza, Argentina. I love biology, music, art, and sports. Since I was a child, I have practiced many sports, especially volleyball. I’m a creative, social, and responsible person who enjoys learning new things and spending time with my family and friends.

I am passionate about biology, sports, music, and art. I love learning about the human body and understanding how things work. I also enjoy singing, dancing, painting, and playing musical instruments. Volleyball was a big part of my life, and I love trying new things and expressing my creativity.

Discipline is more powerful than motivation

Discipline Is More Powerful Than Motivation When we are kids, we want to do everything. We want to go to the park even when it rains, play with sand at the beach, or pretend to be teachers, shop owners, or astronauts. But why? Where does that feeling come from? I think it happens because everything is new for us. Everything feels exciting. We want to try new things because we are starting to discover who we are and what we like. For me, that curiosity was always connected to sports. Before I was seven years old, I already wanted to try around nine different sports: athletics, handball, swimming, taekwondo, table tennis, ballet, hockey, soccer, and basketball. I will never forget my mom’s smile when she talked to her friends about all the sports I did and started listing them one by one. I will also never forget how, during PE class, many boys chose me before choosing their own friends. At that moment, sports were not only activities for me. They were part of my personality. I always wanted to learn something new. We start these activities because they make us happy. They are exciting. They are fun. They motivate us. But growing up changes things. Little by little, you begin to realize that you do not enjoy everything as much as you thought you would. Without noticing it, you start choosing what is really important for you. You also start planning your time, your schedule, and your responsibilities. That was when I realized I was starting to build a routine. Waking up early to go swimming before school. Leaving school and going to ballet, volleyball, or athletics depending on the day. There was no longer enough time to spend every afternoon with friends or stay at home doing nothing. And summers changed too. Summers stopped being only for sleeping late or relaxing. Now, summers meant being at the club at eight in the morning for training sessions called “Projection,” something that, when I was younger, did not seem very important. Even though everything seemed fun at the beginning, there comes a time when you no longer feel like going every day. There are days when you are tired. Days when you have personal problems, stress, homework, exams, or simply want to stay home. And still, you keep going. Not because you are motivated. But because you learned discipline. For me, discipline does not mean being perfect. It means showing up even when you do not feel like it. It means continuing even when things become difficult. It means not giving up on yourself. I think people talk too much about motivation and I think we romanticize motivation. On social media, everyone says things like “stay motivated” or “never give up,” as if success depends on always feeling inspired and happy. But that’s not true. Motivation is intense, but temporary. Discipline is quiet, repetitive, and often uncomfortable. But discipline is what really helps people grow. And the most important thing I learned is that discipline is not only useful in sports. I learned discipline through volleyball, a sport that taught me much more than how to play a game. Volleyball taught me how to organize my life. It taught me teamwork. It taught me character. It taught me that you are never alone. It also taught me how to lose, how to win, how to support other people, and even how to cry with a team. For years, out of the 24 hours in a day, I spent seven at school and six — no joke — training with older teams, in addition to school, provincial, national, and international sports trips. And even if everything sounds exciting, the truth is that not every day was easy. There were many days when I had absolutely no motivation. Days when I wanted to stay home. But discipline made me continue. Discipline is learned by training, organizing your time, and doing things even when you do not want to do them anymore. And today, that discipline helps me in every aspect of my life: at school, at university, in the way I organize my time, and in the way I face my responsibilities. Because in the end, discipline doesn’t only help you achieve goals. It helps you become the person you want to be.

Something people might not know about me is that I’m good at cooking! I enjoy making desserts and trying new recipes. I love preparing sweet treats, especially brownies, and sharing them with my family and friends.