My wrestling career has been filled with countless memories that I am so glad I got to experience but I would say that one of my all time favorites happened my junior year when I was at states. My junior year was amazing. The team had gotten more girls and we were able to get a girls coach on staff. I also think that I branched out and talked to a lot of people. The team environment was great. I loved going into practice knowing that we were going to be working but also that we could all joke around and have fun with each other. This was different from the previous year when I felt a little isolated in the room, especially being one of the only girls there. And having people doubt me just because I was a girl. But that changed. Everyday we went into the room and worked. We would push each other to get better. It showed when I was on the mat wrestling too. I went on to win a few tournaments, counties, and regionals for my weight class. And then at the end of the year I qualified for states. I had qualified my sophomore year as well but this was different. I want to go back a little bit to a random day at practice. I was talking to my coaches as I normally do and I decided to make a bet. I said that if I place at states then you have to wear a wing and that he had to buy me a cake. They all agreed and I made sure not to forget either. Back to when I was at states everyday I was working. I was honestly really nervous. I worked all year to get here and now I'm going against the best people in the state. But I made it all the way to the third place match. So I knew that I was going to place and be on the podium. I unfortunately lost the match. I was upset at myself. I went back to my set and thought about all of the things I could have done better during the match. That was until my coaches came and started talking to me. He was telling me how he was proud of me and how far I had come this season and that next season we are going to work even harder. That made me feel a lot better. Then I remembered the bet we had. I pulled out the wigs and handed them to my coaches. It sounds silly but the reason this is my favorite memory in my wrestling career out of all the ones I could choose from is because it made me realize that I was a part of something bigger. It wasn’t just a wrestling team; these people cared a lot about me and they wanted me to succeed. It's like a family and I also think that this was the moment I realized I could make an impact in the sport. Despite people's doubt I could do pretty well. It's the memory that makes me realize the family I have because of wrestling and it also helped me gain self confidence realizing that I can do it and I can leave a mark.