Things That Define Me

There are many people who throughout my life have greatly influence my decisions and who I have become today. It is difficult to narrow it down to just one person that has greatly influenced my life. I have had many coaches and teachers that helped make me the strong, independent, and determined person that I am now. I would talk about everyone but that would make this a super long blog and I know no one wants to read that much! The person that I will talk about is my softball coach, Troy Fields. He was my softball coach from the time I was eight years old through my senior year of high school. He even coached me for two years of varsity basketball. Troy means a great deal to me because he played a big role as a father figure to me. My own father was not very involved in my life and Troy helped fill in that gap. He was always there for me when I had a problem. He helped shape me into the determined person that I am today. When I first started playing softball I was not very good, but Troy told me to keep trying and not give up, so by the end of my first season I was in the starting line up. Since then if I am not good at something I stay determined and focus on my goal and in the end I succeed.
An experience that I hold very close to me would have to been all of the years that I played sports. Throughout school I played softball, track, soccer, and basketball. Those experiences helped shape who I am today. Participating in athletics made me a more determined person, they made me want to succeed not only in my sport but in all of the activities that I participated in. I believe that if I had not played sports I would not be as goal oriented as I am now. I would not be able to focus on academics which are also important to me. Also being a part of teams taught me that sometimes you won't get along with everyone but you have to just get over it and work with them anyway. On most of my teams there were girls that liked to fight so I became a mediator and was the one that tried to make everything better. I am still like that today. Whenever my friends argue I always try to make everything better.
Most of my memories are related to sports in some way. That is what I spent the vast majority of my time doing throughout my childhood until I graduated high school. So it would make sense that my favorite place would be sports oriented. When I came home from school for winter break I went to a basketball game at my old high school. As soon as I got back into the gymnasium, memories from my high school and junior high games just poured into me, every game that we lost and the few that we won. The place that I carry with me would have to be the place where I spent most of my time up until now and that would be the gym at West Union High School. I spent days and nights there practicing not just basketball but also softball on the days the field was too wet to play on. That place holds so many fond memories with my friends and coaches. I always had a good time there doing what I love to do which is playing sports. All of those memories are things that I am going to carry with me throughout my lifetime.