It’s been about four years now since I began high school, met an entirely new group of people, and found out I was cut from a team for the first time in my life. It was a warm, sunny August day. We were only about a week into school, but two of those school days involved my first high school soccer tryout. I had recently started at a technical school with over twelve hundred students, so naturally I was nervous, just as any other freshmen was. It was only a few hours before the last bell would ring, declaring another school day had come to an end. Although, I was shaking with nerves, there was always some part of me that was confident that I had made it. I’m sure everyone has had this feeling before, right? I didn’t want to get ahead of myself, but I’ve never had any problems with tryouts before. I was never the best, but I certainly wasn’t the worst. I have played soccer every year since I was five years old, and I truly couldn’t picture my life without it. 

Finally, after a long day of constantly replaying the tryout in my head, it was time to check the final roster. As I approached the school gym, my heart began to race so fast, it felt like it was about to fall out of my chest. After I made it through the crowd of girls, I began to scan through the list to look for my name. The first time I scanned it, I thought I had passed it. After the third or fourth scan, I began to realize my name wasn’t there. I became nervous again, but this time my heart began to ache. I felt completely empty. All my friend’s names were on the list except mine, and for the first time in my life, I wasn’t going to be reporting to practice that afternoon. I was so upset, angry, and disappointed all at the same time. After I received some comforting words from my friends, I left to go home.

That night I thought long and hard about what had happened.I still couldn’t process that it was all over. It was simply something I couldn’t accept. It wasn’t until the next morning that I realized it didn’t have to be over. After talking with my friends and the captains of the team, I made the executive decision to talk to my coach and ask to practice with the team for the time being. The way I saw it was if I couldn’t play, I would at least like to practice, and that is exactly what it did. I practiced with the junior varsity team for the rest of the season. I practiced every day. I took time before and after practice to run through drills, scrimmage with the team, and I even made some time for the gym. It was hard at times to know that even though I was included in team activities, I wasn’t able to play during games. It wasn’t until one of the last practices of the season that I was approached by my coach and asked to play for them at the last game. She felt I was ready, and after all of my hard work, I deserved to play. To finally hear those words made the entire journey worth it.
The game, however, was like the icing on the cake. It was a Friday afternoon, my mom was there, and the crowd was a lot bigger than usual. I wasn’t put in at first, but when I was, I was encouraged by all the fans. I played the rest of the game, not giving a minutes rest. Not only did I score the final goal of the game, but we won the final game of the season. In that moment, my excitement was through the roof. I have never felt more proud than in that moment. My coach was so proud. She told me that I definitely proved myself that game. I proved that with just a little hard work and positivity, success can be achieved.

Battle the odds, take chances, and never settle for anything less than what you deserve. In the article, “Don’t Ever Settle For Less Than You Deserve” from Slism, Kacia Nall wrote, “Settling is the number one way to become sidetracked from progress.”In situations like my own, it’s important to know your worth. Everybody has their own strengths and weaknesses, but it’s the courage we gather that expresses one’s willingness to keep fighting. according to the article, “What’s Courageous Leadership? It’s The Courage To Be Fearless” from Rochester Business Journal, “Courage permits us to face extreme difficulties or danger without fear; it is bravery in action.” I never knew I had this type of courage until the moment I saw the roster list. Even though I may not have realized it at first, I knew that what had been decided for me was not what was meant to be. Soccer is my passion, and that will never change. Waleed Waker once tweeted, “Never stop doing your best just because someone doesn’t give you credit.” couldn’t stand the fact that I would be missing out on such a great experience just because someone told me I wasn’t good enough. I knew my limits, and I knew it didn’t stop here, so I decided to take matters into my own hands.

Far too often do we let others depict our decisions and outcomes in life. The secret is to never give up. In the YouTube video, “Best motivational Video Ever [GET RESULTS] - Change Your Mind [HD],” Marcelo Bacchi wrote that, “Limit only exists in the mind.”No matter what, it’s your life and your choices, and how you choose to handle those difficult situations is up to you. Ariana Grande once wrote, “Never give up on something you love.” I love playing soccer, and it’s as simple as that. It’s something that makes me happy, and something I wasn’t ready to let go of. For those things that you love, giving up should never be an option.