Lessons learned from my experience with softball

Sports. There is no way that words can describe the impact sports made on my life. From the moment I was able to walk, I was playing softball, soccer, tennis, whatever; It never stopped, which was fine with me. I never had a negative feeling towards games, until I hit my high school years.

Growing up in my family doing sports was not an option. It was a lifestyle. I never played for fast-paced teams. I felt like I was in a better position to stay at a lower level and enjoy where I was. Fast forward to high school. I was on the college softball team for the 4 years I attended school. In the first year, I was new to the team that I entered with a scared mentality, but I wasn’t going to let that get in the way of excelling in the game that I have come to love. I had to put all my thoughts and feelings aside, I gave it my all in the tests and guess what, I already told you, but, I made the team! When I was a 15-year-old girl, being part of the high school varsity team excited me. I worked hard at every practice and when it turned into game day, I was ready to go out on the field and take victory for my team. Three years of this hard work paid off when we made it to the state championship.

That was without a doubt the best feeling I have ever experienced. Walking towards the field where we would face our opponent we saw a stadium full of 4,500 people. Everything there to look at us. That alone still hits me on a sore spot, knowing that many people came together in one area to see how our talent developed on the field. The game started and we made incredible plays, we hit phenomenal, we won some points, 4 minutes from the end of the game the score was 3-3. The scoring point for the opposing team was at third base, with no outs, and the fourth batter up. This was not a good situation for my team. The championship was at stake. Our pitcher threw the ball, everyone was holding their breath.

The pitch goes right down the middle, she hits it, goes straight into the air getting closer and closer to the fence. The whole world stopped for a moment, I swear. The ball takes the course of nature and follows the wind to slide over the fence, causing the runner on third to run to home plate, making the score 3-4. We lost. That was it. There is no way to delay time. We lost. All our hard work and endless hours of practicing the same exercises over and over again to no avail. We don’t win the state, we don’t win anything. My entire senior year was a drag. Comparing everything with the previous year. I was so disappointed in myself. Replaying moments over and over in my head thinking about what I could have done differently. There was nothing he could do except get on with life and not look back.

Here I am a year later working at the University of Utah hospital as a CNA, preparing to enter nursing school in the summer, looking back I learned that being a diligent and patient person will benefit you in the long run, I really believe that we have to go through challenges in life to build the character that we are as adults. Softball was my life, now nursing is my life. We go through stages of life hoping and praying that everything goes well and according to plan, without thinking that it is the failures and challenges that continue to make us grow.