The general definition of a patriot is “one who loves and defends his or her country”. However, I think there is a deeper meaning hidden in that. When one looks at the “defends his country” part, they might think that defending has to mean that to be a patriot, they must be in the military, and must physically fight for their country. Granted, that’s definitely patriotic, but defending in this case doesn’t have to be physical. In fact, anybody can defend their country! For example, you can defend it verbally, by not allowing it to be insulted, or you can defend its honor. To do this, you can act generously. As you can see, there are many ways to defend your country, and it doesn’t have to be through military ways!

I consider myself a patriot by being a good team player through my sports teams. Now, I play on two different soccer teams, and am a team player because I support my teammates, and am quite active when it comes to cheering our team on, giving positive advice, and generally keeping team morale up.

I am also a patriot is through my multi-age classroom environment. I am in 8th grade, so I’m expected to be a leader towards the younger students, and I think I do a pretty good job of guiding them and assisting them. This helps them in learning, and therefore helps the United States’ education system.

An example of my patriotism through helping the community is my part in the Youth Advisory Program for Lets Go!, which is a project run by United Way trying to get people, especially kids, in the greater Portland area healthier through many different tactics. I attend meetings, and give my input on how certain things should be done, and how my peers would react to it. I also inform them of how my peers’ lifestyle is affected by the food we eat, and how they might be able to change that. This helps the state’s general health, which is something that can be called patriotism.

I am proud of my accomplishments, and hope to see my current work with other people pay off in the future. With some hard work, perseverance, and maybe a little luck, I will strive to help my country in every way that I can, being as much of a patriot as I can be.