As an athlete, a student, and a person, I have had many failures and setbacks. Some were easier to handle than others and I could find the good side of things, but one setback of mine was particularly difficult for me. I was at what seemed to be the peak of my track and field career. I had just beaten the pole vault school record, I was being mentioned in newspapers and receiving meet invites, and I was even being scouted by some of my top colleges. All the work I'd put in during the season on and off of the track finally seemed to be paying off. My family was proud, my school elevated, and I was beyond ecstatic. However, only halfway through my season everything came to an abrupt pause. I was mid-jump at a competition when I took off of the ground wrong and quite literally catapulted myself backwards in the opposite direction. Somehow, I landed on my feet but rolled back and I put my hands out to catch myself. To my dismay, this left me with a broken wrist and a very short-lived season. I'm sure you can imagine my distress. The honest truth is I cried for a good three days thinking my life was over as I sat in my room, arm elevated in a sling, Pride and Prejudice on repeat, and in desperate need of a shower. I seemed to be stuck in a cycle of self-pity and thinking if only I did this certain thing differently, maybe I wouldn't be in this position. That of course is impossible though. And I realized it. This moment in time was unchangeable and if it happened that way, it was obviously supposed to. So, I started to look for the good. Like how I didn't have to worry about shin splints that season, or how I got to spend more time with family. Slowly, I started to look at my situation positively. In that time, I also got to see my fellow vaulting teammates compete and even watch some events that I'd never been able to before. Not only that, but with my extra two and a half hours in the day, I had the opportunity to shadow a local physical therapist. I LOVED every second of it. I got to learn about the human body, help people improve physically, and make community connections. Just as I was dealing with an injury, these people were too. I personally knew what they were going through and it made it easier for me to relate. I realized that it didn't matter how successful I was going to be that season, but rather how much I was going to grow from my experience. Now, I am coming back this year with a fire lit, and a passion to show people that you can come back from trials as a better person with a brighter future- despite setbacks.