“Full recovery of your knee will take at least 9 months.” This one sentence broke me. I heard this statement while in the hospital emergency room after I suffered an injury to my knee on my high school soccer field. I had already planned that this was my last soccer game after deciding that I would transition to play high school field hockey. At the time, I was a freshman in high school and hearing the length of time it would take for recovery, I felt that there was no possibility of getting back to the skilled player I had been. Weeks of not being able to walk, months of physical therapy, and constant emotional drain affected my sense of belonging. Sports had been a large part of my identity before I injured myself. I found myself missing my teammates, the competitive environment, and the athleticism I once had. Injuring myself playing sports was the event that really inspired me to work hard and set my mind to recovering as soon as possible. I wanted to get back to playing field hockey and become an even better player than I once was. During my recovery, I made the decision to work as hard as I could in school because my goal was to attend a 4-year university known for its academics. At the time, I certainly did not think that I would have the opportunity to play field hockey at the college level and so my priority was to get accepted into college for my high academic achievements. I had always been a strong student and when I didn’t have sports in my life, but I discovered a new passion for learning. I found myself more motivated to do well in school and I pushed myself by taking more challenging classes, like Anatomy and AP Calculus AB. My hard work in the classroom paid off and I currently have a 4.3 GPA and am ranked number 7 of 383 senior students. When I reflect on my injury and recovery, I realize the experience helped motivate me to be the best student-athlete that I could be.

“Full recovery of your knee will take at least 9 months.” This one sentence broke me. I heard this statement while in the hospital emergency room after I suffered an injury to my knee on my high school soccer field. I had already planned that this was my last soccer game after deciding that I would transition to play high school field hockey. At the time, I was a freshman in high school and hearing the length of time it would take for recovery, I felt that there was no possibility of getting back to the skilled player I had been. Weeks of not being able to walk, months of physical therapy, and constant emotional drain affected my sense of belonging. Sports had been a large part of my identity before I injured myself. I found myself missing my teammates, the competitive environment, and the athleticism I once had. During my recovery, I made the decision to work as hard as I could in school because my goal was to attend a 4-year university known for its academics. At the time, I certainly did not think that I would have the opportunity to play field hockey at the college level and so my priority was to get accepted into college for my high academic achievements. I had always been a strong student and when I didn’t have sports in my life, but I discovered a new passion for learning. I found myself more motivated to do well in school and I pushed myself by taking more challenging classes, like Anatomy and AP Calculus AB. My hard work in the classroom paid off and I currently have a 4.3 GPA and am ranked number 7 of 383 senior students. When I reflect on my injury and recovery, I realize the experience helped motivate me to be the best student-athlete that I could be. My motivation is myself always pushing me to be a better player than I was yesterday. You are your biggest motivator, and although it may seem cliche, it's the truth. Playing sports will help me further my career because sports allow me to have a high work ethic as well as putting all of my heart into everything I do.