Steroids
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My topic for the senior exit project is The Truth about Steroids. During my research I came across an actual steroid user. I asked him to tell me about how he first got involved with steroids. He told me it was through his roommate in college his sophomore year. Locker room talk is one of the best ways steroids gets positive PR. The mindset is that these teammates are people you trust. If the steroids are working for these guys then it will work for you as well. His roommate introduced him to a Ðfriend of the program he says. ÐFriends of the program refers to people in collegiate sports who help take care of athletes under the table illegally. They do things such as give them money, cars, and even steroids. I then proceeded to ask him what was the key factor that drove him to use steroids. He started talking about how back in peewee football, he played with the kids that were 3 years older than him. He mentioned how he was captain of his middle school team in 6th grade due to his athletic ability and work ethic. I didnt understand where he was going with this, but I continued to listen. He then told me how he started at linebacker his freshman year in high school. By his junior year, he was all-state. By senior year, he had received a full athletic scholarship to a major division one college. Once he arrived on campus, for the first time in his life he said he was not an immediate superstar. He was backup his freshman year at this school. He said he couldnt understand how much bigger and faster these guys were than him. His roommate was one of the starters and he asked him how he got so big and strong. He filled him in that almost every starter was using steroids. He then knew what he had to do if he wanted to start and possibly become an NFL athlete. He took steroids for 6 weeks. He said it was the most miserable 6 weeks of his life. He felt depressed all the time, his hair became oily, his back and face were covered with acne, he was having muscle and joint pains, and he was losing his appetite. These are all short-term effects caused by steroids. He said the biggest effect on him was he felt like a cheater. All his life he had worked his hardest to get where he needed to be. Sports today has made it so that the integrity of the game falls below the win at all costs attitude. When I asked him if he would ever do it again, he said not in a million years. He said he was selfish at the time and only looking out for himself. He now has a wife and a son and he said he put all that at risk. He said he gets sick more now because of a broken down immune system. He said he has muscle pains still today and has heart problems. He said that he is more likely to get a stroke and have liver problems. He said hes not going to push his son the way his dad pushed him. He will be proud of his sons accomplishments no matter what. Parents and coaches are just as culpable as the steroid users themselves. They push young athletes too hard at a young age. They demand greatness at all costs and glorify those athletes that achieve it.
Another big reasons steroids are becoming more and more popular is because of professional athletes. An example of this is Barry Bonds.