Sports have always been an important aspect of my life; softball especially. I'll never forget the days I spent covered head to toe in dirt and sweat, playing my favorite game on the diamond field.
I attended my first tryout for the girl's fast-pitch team when I was ten, and I will never forget that day because I don't think I have ever cried so much in my life. I couldn't hit, I couldn't catch, and I felt like an embarrassment in front of the other girls who all seemed to know what they were doing. During the tryout I had given up, when a girl named Rachael, who was a very good pitcher and daughter of one of the coaches came over to me and encouraged me to keep playing. So I did. To my surprise I was put on Rachael's team and what started out as just-for-fun activity turned into a passion that landed me in tournaments and national championships alike. Playing softball essentially became my life, and I was no longer the girl who couldn't bat, or catch a ball, but grew to be one of the fastest runners and best catchers in the league. I prided myself on these things and practiced on them every day. Softball over the years has given me a lot of strong characteristics. Perseverance, friendship, hard work, dedication, maintaining a good attitude, to name a few. More than anything though, it has given me resilience. It has taught me to get back up when I fall down. To strive to be a better person, as well as athlete. It has instilled in me positivity, and the ability to learn from negative situations. Softball is significantly responsible for shaping me into the person that I am today. Discipline and resilience are important characteristics to have as an individual. The lessons that I have learned from softball I have carried with me for much of my life and I know that as I continue to play softball I will learn many more lessons about the type of person that I should, and want to, be.
I attended my first tryout for the girl's fast-pitch team when I was ten, and I will never forget that day because I don't think I have ever cried so much in my life. I couldn't hit, I couldn't catch, and I felt like an embarrassment in front of the other girls who all seemed to know what they were doing. During the tryout I had given up, when a girl named Rachael, who was a very good pitcher and daughter of one of the coaches came over to me and encouraged me to keep playing. So I did. To my surprise I was put on Rachael's team and what started out as just-for-fun activity turned into a passion that landed me in tournaments and national championships alike. Playing softball essentially became my life, and I was no longer the girl who couldn't bat, or catch a ball, but grew to be one of the fastest runners and best catchers in the league. I prided myself on these things and practiced on them every day. Softball over the years has given me a lot of strong characteristics. Perseverance, friendship, hard work, dedication, maintaining a good attitude, to name a few. More than anything though, it has given me resilience. It has taught me to get back up when I fall down. To strive to be a better person, as well as athlete. It has instilled in me positivity, and the ability to learn from negative situations. Softball is significantly responsible for shaping me into the person that I am today. Discipline and resilience are important characteristics to have as an individual. The lessons that I have learned from softball I have carried with me for much of my life and I know that as I continue to play softball I will learn many more lessons about the type of person that I should, and want to, be.