The Possibility of Change

Belief can give regular people superhuman powers. Not only do some people believe you will be rewarded with a good afterlife if you believe, but also the ability to power through obstacles and achieve success. I believe that if you put enough effort into anything, you can obtain your goal. Throughout my life I’ve lived by this, and it’s given me the most success through lacrosse. Through exercising this belief, I’ve started my first year of playing, barely made the advanced team and eventually started, and started suiting varsity.

My lacrosse career started in seventh grade when I joined the lower team with the vipers. I was one of the only kids that had never played on a team before. Through the first week I had shown promise, but wasn’t good enough to be a starter. Every practice, I took what I had learned and practiced that skill at home. In our first pre-game warm up, our coach made his usual rounds, notifying players that they would be starting. Once he called my name, I stared in disbelief. “Yes, you!” he assured me. I did well in that game and started for the rest of the season.

Although I had earned the spot as a starter, I kept working hard. I decided I would try out for the advanced team in eighth grade. The cuts came out and I hadn’t made the team. Sadness hung over me until I realized I would be returning to the team with my friends on it. A week later there was an announcement that there would be roster changes, due to the exceptional level of play by some players. Five players got moved up to the advanced team. The first few games went by and the only time I got to play was occasionally in man down, proving me as the fifth best defender. I wondered what would have been if I had stayed on the lower team, regretting the decision every game. The third game, our coach stated making his rounds. He passed the three normal starters, but only talked with two of them. The two other defenders and I looked at each other, trying to figure out who would be taking the starting position. He made his way over to me and started speaking. “Sam, I think you have some good talent. This is your game to prove you have the ability to play at this level. If you do well, I will start you, but if you play poorly, you’ll go back to your usual role.” That game, I poured my heart out on the field and never sat out. After that game, I held the starting position and haven’t looked back since.

I kept working hard even into high school, starting every game as an eighth and ninth grader. In my sophomore year, I made the junior varsity team like most kids my age; only three were selected to move up to varsity. In the practices where we mixed J.V. and varsity, I tried my hardest, but never thought I could even be comparable to the other players. Then, two days before we played a notoriously weak team, one of our coaches notified me and some fellow teammates that we would be watched during practice and to bring our A-game. With about thirty minutes left in practice, the head varsity coach waddled down to our field and pulls five out of seven of us aside. “As you know, we have a game in two days,” he began “and we’d like you five to suit up for it.” All of us agreed and suited more games and doing more practices with varsity.

Throughout my lacrosse career, I’ve put in countless hours of perseverance and determination in dedication to developing my game. I started as a first year back-up, but then evolved into a varsity player as a sophomore. “Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those to believe.” (Gail Devers) If you put in enough effort into anything, anything is obtainable. Giving life challenge can lead to astronomical effects, whether in academics, sports, work, or anywhere in life you can, because anything is possible.