Colton S., Hadley E. Watts Middle School
From Good to Great
I have used my strengths and attitude to positively influence many situations. One example of this is my baseball career. Over the summer, I decided to try out for a D1 baseball team. I, being on a D3 team at the time, did not know if I had the skills I would need to earn a place on a better team. I was nervous going into the tryouts because, if I did not succeed, I did not have a team to fall back on. I had the mental and emotional strength to take a risk and try to accomplish my goal. I think that this helped propel me through the tryout season and allowed me the opportunity to make a huge jump forward in my baseball journey. Having ended the season with my D3 team on a high note, I was pretty confident going into the tryouts. I was excited about the chance to meet new coaches and kids. I think that all of these factors helped me through the tryout season.
I went to eight tryouts in one week. I felt confident going into all of these tryouts and was not worried. I had a good attitude. I used my good attitude to be respectful to coaches and fellow players. I think that the coaches noticed this, and it positively held their attention. These qualities influenced the coaches to see me as the kind of player and teammate that would benefit their teams. It is my belief that having a good attitude is not just important in sports, but is also important in life. If you do not have a good attitude in life, you will struggle. You could get fired from jobs, damage friendships, and make enemies. This will lead to more negative experiences in life as the years pass. Conversely, a positive attitude opens doors to new and better opportunities, just as it did in this situation.
What motivated me during this time was that I had a big goal I wanted to accomplish and I did not have a ‘Plan B’ to fall back on. The fear of having no place to go motivated me to give my best effort, even beyond what I thought I was capable of. Before the tryout season, I did not yet know if I should take a risk to achieve my goals or if I was going to stick with the safety of what I already had. During the tryout season, I felt nervous. Despite that nervousness, I went to tryouts almost every day, sometimes even twice a day. I let go of something good to seek something great. After the tryout season, due in part to my mental and emotional strength, and a good attitude, I felt elated. Why? I had accomplished my goal of making a D1 baseball team! I am now looking forward to a great season with my new team.
