As a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I have often pictured myself as some of the characters, appearing strong as they stand there with their insignia on their chests, that identify them so well. For me, I would like an insignia that covers the indention in my chest because I live with pectus excavatum. Pectus excavatum, also called sunken or funnel chest, is a congenital chest wall deformity in which several ribs and the sternum grow abnormally, producing a concave, or caved-in, appearance in the anterior chest wall. For me, my chest wall is pressing down on my right aorta. The right aorta is responsible for transporting oxygen rich blood from your heart to the rest of your body. Therefore, this causes a decreased exercise tolerance for me. I cannot catch my breath easily! Along with that, I often experience fatigue and chest pain. As an athlete and highly active/involved student, this has affected my ability to compete with other athletes that have the endurance that I will never have. My goal in high school was to make it to state in tennis, but I never got there, despite still being recognized as a top tennis player in the area. I cannot help but think that if I could have had better endurance, I would have gotten there. Additionally, it was hard to focus on academics with always being tired and dealing with chest pain. Regardless, I still finished in the top 15% in my class. I am learning to live with pectus excavatum by understanding my limits. Unfortunately, since pectus excavatum is not considered life-threatening, it is not always covered by insurance. This is mind blowing since I cannot catch my breath at times. We did explore getting the surgery, despite the outrageous cost, but it came with no guarantee and could cause future back problems. My goal now is simply to enjoy what I can and stop when I cannot. Sports are a big part of me. They help keep me motivated and take my mind off the stresses of academics. Staying active keeps me on that straight path too! I plan to play club sports at Florida State University, and even have some fun with recreational sports, with pectus excavatum. The hardest part now is I am self-conscious about how my chest looks. There’s an obvious deformity and I do not like to take off my shirt in public. I have not been able to overcome that part, but I still have hope that one day I will earn an insignia that covers my insecurity!

"Finish him". That is what my new tennis coach told me to do on a match day. It was expressed in that Mortal Kombat type of way. As the top seeded tennis player on my team, I play the top players of every school. Unfortunately, there are many schools I have played where the players have never picked up a racquet, until they joined their high school team. In this case, that was my situation. My opponent was a beginner, but I could see he was really trying. Instead of smashing the ball over the net on every point, I would push it over, so he would not lose motivation. I told my coach that if I play like I play other people at my level, I would demotivate him and he would never want to play tennis again. "I am here to encourage players to play the game, this is not a time for me to show off my athleticism", I told him. Quickly, throughout the season, my coach caught on that I was not going to humiliate other players that were just learning the game. In fact, I would help them understand the game better because their coaches also do not know the specifics of tennis. At times he would catch me showing an opponent how to hold their racquet correctly, or explaining the score. Then, at the end of those matches I would praise them for being out there. I know they appreciate me because at the district tournament, they would cheer for me. I have had their parents and coaches come up to me and tell me how much their kids enjoy playing me. It is very rewarding. I value my sportsmanship. Tennis is hard enough, physically and mentally, why make it difficult for novice players to want to continue. That is not to say that I play opponents at my level differently in regards to sportsmanship. I exhibit great sportsmanship on the court at all times, regardless of their level of playing. I am fair and respect the talents of my opponents. Sportsmanship can go beyond sports too. In life I will always need to show this quality, whether that be in school/college, with my family, in my job, etc. In college, I can see me being supportive to my classmates and even offer assistance when I can. As an International Baccalaureate (IB) student, this is what we do. We encourage and show support. We also act with integrity in our school work. This will carry on to my post-secondary education. Integrity is a big part of sportsmanship and key in business. I would like to have a career as an actuary. With this career being considered a branch of mathematics, you have to have integrity. Numbers can tell stories too and I want those numbers to show my quality of work. I want to continue being a team player in everything I do. I have been playing tennis since I was nine years old. It has taught me a lot, but great sportsmanship is the one I am most proud of and one I can carry with me the rest of my life.

Someone once told me that money is a short term motivator. In other words, once you make your goal amount in salary, you want more and more and more. Let's say you start a job and you are eager and ready to prove yourself. You work your tail off because you want more money. Eventually, your hard work pays off and you get that raise. Now what? You want more money. If you are motivated by money, it could be a never-ending cycle of moving your bar and stressing yourself out for a moving target. Instead, learn to live within your means and anything that comes your way after that will be a nice surprise. Then, turn those surprises into additional savings or to pay off debts.