Throughout high school, I played sports and continued to challenge myself academically. This constantly led to long nights of studying after games and before work. I have learned, in playing 2-3 sports every school year, that I needed to keep my grades up and keep myself focused on what I wanted to achieve. I strive to gain an excellent education so I can further use my abilities to help other kids succeed. My goal is to either become a high school math teacher or to do something in accounting. However, I have a strong passion for helping children in their late teens, so I would love to be able to influence other student-athletes, like myself. Anything in sports can be considered an obstacle. From frustrating coaches, to mean teammates, and to even keeping calm with the referees. I remember my senior year, when I was the captain of my varsity girls' soccer team, I had one teammate who was very passionate about the game, which was great, but she didn't always agree with the referee's decisions. During one of our home games, she was extremely frustrated and the referee made a questionable call. I could see her entire mood shift. She stood up, got all stiff, and was staring at the official as she was walking up to him. I ran from across the field because I knew exactly what was going to happen. I was able to get to her before she got to the official and I was able to talk to her and calm her down. That is just one part of sports that you have to deal with. Being able to know your teammates, who you are working with, and how they react to things is a big part of helping keep things civil on the field and the courts. Sports help build character in so many ways including learning how to not get mad when someone makes you mad, learning how to calm yourself and others down, learning how to put away your pride just to keep the peace, and being able to be a leader to those who need it. That's the great thing about sports, it's able to humble the leaders, and let the humble lead. I always grew up playing sports, and my whole family did, but I was also very passionate about academics. I'm so thankful for my family who pushed me to do both because, without them, I would not be where I am today.