When I began my freshman year of high school, I decided I no longer wanted to play soccer. Instead, I wanted to try field hockey. I had had a little bit of experience with the sport earlier in my life but there was so much I didn’t know. I hadn’t played it for a long time when it came to my freshman year so I was nervous to start and try to play with all of the other girls who had been playing the sport for years. However, going into I didn’t expect myself to be as good as them. I knew I had a long way to go in order to have the skills to make the varsity team and ultimately the idea of playing on varsity pushed me to do my very best. I went into every practice and embraced challenges. Every time my coaches gave me feedback I would become determined to keep them from having to tell me again. In order to try and get better, I would watch the older players who were on varsity. I would take mental notes on defensive tactics they used and how they carried the ball close to their stick.

Eventually, all of this paid off. My sophomore year, I was made a swing player. This meant I played on both the JV and varsity teams, however, I practiced with the varsity team. This wasn’t the end though, next my goal was a starting position on varsity. I reached this goal during my junior year in most games but not all. Finally, my senior year I reached the point of being a regular starter on the varsity team. Having this growth mindset allowed me to continue to grow and surpass all my original goals.