Jack Terry’s story inspires me not to make excuses and to never give up. His story is also an inspiring one of grit. Growth, resilience, integrity, and tenacity are all illustrated throughout his journey of life. After losing his family and surviving Nazi Concentration Camps, he still graduated high school and college, and had an extremely successful academic and professional career. In addition, he occupied the roles of a Lieutenant, father, grandfather, athlete, teacher, and mentor. Through grit, he managed to leave a remarkable legacy behind despite his horrific traumas and all the disadvantages he experienced. After reflecting on my own life experiences, I have realized that grit is evident in my story as well. My father passed away suddenly when I was thirteen years old. He had a heart attack at the age of forty-five. My world was shattered, and the only way of living I had ever known was gone. I had to figure out how to live on without him and not let my grief control the rest of my life. Overcoming the loss of my father is the most difficult task I have faced. In a heartbeat, or rather the unexpected absence of one, the soft innocence of a child who had never experienced tragedy was stripped away and replaced by the sharp pain of my new reality. After I lost him, anger, confusion, doubt, and pain flooded my heart and mind. I was in a very dark place, and without God, I would not have been brought out of it and back into the light. I discovered that my grief was powerful, but our God is more powerful. Losing my father at thirteen forced me to grow up a lot quicker than the other kids my age. It also fostered a maturity that others around me did not share. The greatest impact my father’s death had on me was having to harness an amount of resilience from within myself beyond what I thought I was capable of. Not only did I learn about God’s unconditional love and my own resilience, I also learned lessons in growth, integrity, and tenacity. Change is inevitable, and it is not always a bad thing. Changes in life teach you how to grow and be flexible. My parents taught me my morals, and I have stuck with them despite the trauma I suffered. In addition to my morals, I also stayed consistent with my determination and drive. When going after something I want, I work hard and do not give up. I am undecided on a career path and field of study at the moment, but I do know that I want to help people no matter what I choose. I am interested in pursuing exercise science and becoming an athletic trainer or sports physical therapist. Since I am an athlete myself, I want to give back by helping young athletes who are passionate about their sport. I understand the emotional and mental processes of working through an injury that is hindering one’s athletic performance. Learning how to take care of others and passing on knowledge so they can help themselves to recover from or prevent physical injuries long-term would be my way of giving back to society. I want to spread knowledge and hope just as Jack Terry did.

I can no longer hear his voice coming from the sidelines. I lost my dad four years ago. He died unexpectedly from a heart attack when I was thirteen years old and my life has never been the same. I had to grow up a lot faster than all the other kids, my childhood was cut short after losing my innocence to this tragedy. As a result of losing my father so young, I gained a sense of maturity that no one else my age could relate to. Navigating through grief at any stage in life is difficult, but learning how to navigate it as a child is an even greater challenge. The biggest impact that my grief had on me was deriving a resilience from within myself that I did not know I was capable of. I could have gone down a destructive path, but I came back from my lowest point. After my world was flipped upside down and the reality that I had woken up to every day was forever changed, I took a moment to reflect on what remained. The primary constants in my life were God, my mother, my sister, and soccer. I have played soccer since I was five years old, and my dad is the reason I still play today. He passed during the time of COVID-19, so with the combination of the pandemic and losing my dad I almost decided to quit playing. However, my dad and I always shared a special bond through soccer, so I have continued playing to keep that connection alive. It was a hard decision to make because for weeks there was a pain in my chest that I felt every time I stepped onto the pitch without him there to support me. I would have breakdowns after not hearing his voice cheering me on anymore. When I almost quit because I thought the pain was too overbearing, I remembered something—my father's smile. I remembered the smile on his face while he was watching me play. I remembered the comfort I felt from hugging him after my games and seeing him beaming with pride. I remembered the excitement and passion in his tone when I scored a goal or broke my opponent's ankles and beat them down the field. His daughter playing soccer brought him so much joy. These reasons were more than enough to convince me that it would be worth it to persevere and keep playing the sport that we both loved. I've also learned so many lessons from playing soccer that can be applied in various aspects of life. I have developed skills in teamwork, collaboration, leadership, communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving. Soccer has taught me how to be patient, committed, disciplined, hardworking, reliable, encouraging, resilient, quick, assertive, respectful, and a good listener. Additionally, I've gained knowledge and wisdom from coaches and mentors throughout my athletic career. Soccer and my dad's absence have both contributed to shaping me into the young woman I am today. My dad was an amazing man and I play to honor him and carry on his legacy. He is my motivation and inspiration to keep showing up and working hard to be the best player, teammate, and person that I can be. I hope I am making him proud.