I believe hard work eventually pays off, even if you have to overcome many obstacles along the way.
When I was in 5th grade I tried out for the Dublin Travel Softball team, which was more competitive than my rec-softball team. I was so nervous at tryouts, but I finally got the phone call from the head coach telling me that I was on the team. I was so excited! I played for this team for four summers and playing softball in college became my dream.
To help prepare me to achieve my dream my parents and concluded I would have to move to a more competitive level of softball. Therefore, I tried out for several prestigious travel softball organizations, including the Lady Lasers, then the best softball organization in Ohio. At first, I didn’t believe that I was good enough to play with these girls. My Dad convinced me to tryout just for fun, just to say that I did it. About three weeks later I received a phone call saying that I had made the Lady Lasers. I was so excited! This meant that I was good enough and it brought me one step closer to my dream. I also knew this meant that I was going to have to leave the Dublin Travel team and more importantly my friends. Instead of being happy for me, my Dublin coach and teammates were upset and blamed me for the break up of the team.
The following March was time for school tryouts. Although I performed better than I ever expected, I was not selected for the Varsity or JV team. I was so disappointed in myself; all the girls from the Dublin Travel team, except me, were selected for Varsity or JV. I didn’t want to play on the freshman team, I mean, come on I play for the Lady Lasers! It was then that I realized that our new High School coach had looked to the Dublin Travel coach for advice on who the best girls were. I just wanted to quit and give up. My parents advised me to take this set back as a challenge and to look at the season as practice my summer team.
Next year I went to all of the weightlifting and conditioning and got to know the head coach. During tryouts, I did amazing once again. But, this time my name was one of the first to be called for the varsity team. The Coach, with a big smile, told me that I did great job and he thought I was ready for varsity. That season I played better than ever and became the new starting center fielder.
What I learned throughout this whole experience is never give up, especially when it comes to your dreams. Today I am currently attending Tiffin University with a softball scholarship. This is why I believe that hard work eventually pays off, even though you may have to overcome many obstacles along the way.