Throughout my life, I have always played 3 sports and had many different coaches. Some have made a huge impact on me and others made me question my love for the sport. Since I was approximately six years old, I was fortunate enough to have the same basketball coach all the way up to my sophomore year in high school. His name is Mr. Nelson, he played in college and had a big future ahead of him till, unfortunately; he blew out both his knees. This is when he focused his love for playing the game on coaching it. Every year, once soccer would wrap up, I would get excited for basketball season because this was the sport I loved most even though I wasn’t the best at it. This was because no matter what the circumstances were, I could count on Mr. Nelson making it a fun practice or celebrating a great win. This was a coaching strategy he used that kept us such a close-knit team. Even though we all hated conditioning, we knew we had to do it. Somehow, Mr. Nelson turned our conditioning into a rewarding game. The more foul shots we made, the fewer suicides we had to do. This was smart and rewarding. We were constantly improving our stamina and shots but were also still interested as there is a challenge ahead of us. Mr. Nelson has one of the biggest hearts I have ever known. I have countless memories of taking his RV to games with the whole team and singing our pregame playlist on the way there and getting chic-fila on the way home. He always would treat the team to random Tonelli’s pizza parties and plan team bonding events like laser tag. As I got older, I noticed when middle school came around, all of my other sports teams were falling apart as kids traveled to other teams to get better. This team didn’t fall apart. We still had the same 12 girls I have been playing with my entire life. Although we 12 girls were all in different friend groups, basketball kept us close and I’m so thankful for that. Now, I want to discuss the impact he had on me specifically. He always wanted the best for me, and no matter what my decision was, he always supported it. I loved playing for him because he coached me as my own Father would. He sugarcoated nothing. It was not till I matured I was so grateful for this. I used to get frustrated or upset, but I always kept my head up and got back into the game and fixed my mistake. I saw myself get better and grew to see the point behind his honesty. On the basketball court, I have always been strong on defense. Before I could say that, though, there were many games I fouled out of. When that fifth foul came, I would get mad at myself, knowing I have made the same mistake yet again. When coming off the court he would see my frustration and say “Carp you can’t take your fouls home.” and it always made me laugh. Between his goofy sense of humor and brutal honesty, it was just the push I needed to improve. I soon became the ideal player, after every game I would ask him what I could have done better. I would absorb that advice and go home and practice. I knew it wasn’t the sport that I loved it was the team that he built around it that I fell in love with.

My whole life, I have played three sports and even struggled with an eating disorder growing up. That meant I constantly counted calories and sought ways to make my body look more “thin”. It was not until quarantine that I started binge eating out of boredom and became disgusted by the habits I created. I was in complete discomfort with my body and started doing some research. I knew restricting foods was not an option for me. I started consuming whole foods and things that made my body feel good. I don’t skip meals anymore and I focus on making sure I’m eating a balanced diet. During this time, I started going to the gym 3 to 5 days per week, and I found a love for lifting weights. I changed my mindset from constantly critiquing my body to focusing on becoming the strongest version of myself possible. Although having control over the way I look makes me feel powerful, I have learned that watching my progress is an even better feeling I can’t describe. With all this being said, I found going to the gym every day was a good outlet, and it kept me disciplined. I was allowing time every day to better myself and thinking about it like that improved my all-around mindset. Moving my body got me out of bed on the harder days, and those are the things that keep me going. Another thing I don’t miss throughout my daily routine is journaling in the morning and praying at night. This gives me the opportunity to get all my thoughts and feelings out from the day before and focus on what’s coming up. I make sure to write about my goals in life and focus on gratitude. This reminds me every day why I keep working for the things I want in life. I pray every night right before I go to bed to keep myself grounded. Since I was a child, this has always been a part of my bedtime routine. Building my relationship with God allows me to transcend and gives me a source of guidance and faith I cannot always get from my family or peers. Just by changing these few small habits in my everyday life, I have been able to transform myself into someone I can be proud of. Achieving these goals all while doing well in school has proved I can accomplish anything I put my mind to and I live by that.

In the last year or two, I have really enjoyed the country artist Zach Bryan. I blast his music through my ears religiously because he sings the sad truths about life. Growing up, my parents didn’t present a happy marriage. I never understood why they constantly fought or why my father drowned himself in vodka seltzers every night. Now I’m old enough to realize his parents neglected him as a child. Therefore, he never learned how to express his emotion so he buried it. When things were starting to affect my life, I went on a hunt for a solution, a way I could avoid this treacherous cycle that had been going on in my family for generations. That’s when I heard the song “Half Grown”. This song taught me a valuable life lesson I think everyone should learn. The verse that stands out to me most is “You can’t choose your blood.... But you can choose to change the chains that chained you down.... When you was just a child.... And forgiveness ain’t an easy road to go.... But I know that it’s a road worth headin’ down.”". The meaning behind this song is about breaking that cycle and ripping off those chains. This is when I was determined to become my best self and learn that forgiveness is the key to moving on. Every day, I wake up eager to better myself and fix the broken parts of me. There is not a day that goes by I’m not grateful this song was brought to my ears.