I love to win. In middle school, I discovered volleyball and decided I wanted to try out for my school’s team. I arrived at tryouts wearing a reversible dress with a star pattern on one side, and a rainbow pattern on the other. I did not know what to wear or how to play, but the sport looked fun, so I was determined to at least try out. I did not make the team in sixth grade, or even seventh grade, but I still did not plan on giving up. Eighth grade arrived, but there were no volleyball tryouts due to the pandemic, so I asked my parents to sign me up for volleyball lessons. This determination proved to be worthwhile because once I started my freshman year of high school, I was the only freshman to make the junior varsity team. Win or lose, my love for volleyball never faltered. I continued to grow as a high school athlete, playing on the varsity volleyball team for my remaining three years. Eleven year-old me would never believe it if I told her that my passion for volleyball began to fade, but it did. Naturally, I hated losing, but even my victories no longer brought me happiness. I became overly-critical of myself. I no longer played the sport because I truly wanted to, but because I was expected to. To walk away from volleyball would make me a failure in the eyes of others. I was supposed to play in college. I was supposed to make volleyball my one and only focus. I was supposed to be a winner, not a quitter. When I am creating art, my failure brings me excitement for the experimenting, improvement, and beauty to come. There is a saying that art is never finished, only abandoned. My interpretation of this statement is that there is always room for improvement and perfection is unattainable. Rather than wasting my time chasing perfection, I am choosing to chase happiness. I have already allowed my perfectionism to destroy my passion for volleyball, I won’t allow the same to happen to my lifelong dream of becoming an artist. After coming to this realization, I now know that I want nothing more than to have the opportunity to make mistakes and learn from them over and over again because if I can do this, it means I am winning. I love to win.