In the book, “Shooting Star” by Fredrick McKissack, Jomo is influence by his fellow teammates to take performance enhancing drugs after being told his whole life he just wasn’t big enough. Unlike Jomo, his best friend, Jayson didn’t need steroids or any other type of drugs, he was pure talent. Like Jomo, kids around the United States who play sports struggle with the idea of getting bigger, faster and stronger in order to be better than the rest of the competition. Jomo’s life was a struggle.
Not only the stress of school and sports added to his depression, with his parents divorce, his father’s drinking problem and Jomo’s mom leaving added to the pain and pressure to succeed. Watching Jayson’s effortless success in sports made the insult of Jomo’s own life even that much more unbearable. In order to overcome this pain, he decided that it would take something outside himself to reach that goal. Steriods became that avenue. Jomo thought that if he could take steroids that he would make it in the big leagues.
After Jomo has taken steroids, he began to grow. This increased strength and size drew the attention of colleges and college scouts across the country. Even his own father, who hated sports because of his uncle’s own misfortune began to take pride in Jomo’s achievements. This made Jomo feel ecstatic because not only was he receiving the attention he always wanted from his father, he also attracted the attention of a young girl who eventually became his girlfriend.
Nationwide, there are kids in high schools who would do anything to be on national television with all the money and all the fame. There are very few who will actually make that dream a reality. Because of such a low percentage of students who will make it, they will make life threatening choices in order to ensure success. To the athlete who is unsure of their abilities, steroids can be a seemingly harmless gift to make them a “Shooting Star. ” Personally, I’ve contemplated the idea of what my abilities would be like if I took steroids but the cons greatly outweigh the pros.
The side effects of steroids such as “roid rage,” back-acne, gynomastitis, testicles shrinking, hurting those I love and the risk of being addicted to steroids are reasons why I have chosen not to use them. Clearly, Jomo didn’t consider any of these consequences and that is why after being kicked out of the state play-off game he found himself laying in a hospital bed only to wake up to find out that he had been in a coma for 3 months. A car crash after driving with severe roid rage was to blame for his hospitalization and the end of his career.
