Strengths of Resilience by Emily

Strengths of Resilience by Emily - January 2017 Scholarship Essay

At age six, I was the one with the crooked bangs and the crooked teeth with a bright red uniform and Adidas cleats. I was the only left footer on the field and could score on any opponent I came across. I’ve loved the sport ever since those first years with the orange slices and Capri Sun drinks, but I never realized the impact soccer had on my life until I started my high school soccer career.
It was the summer before my junior year at Boise High School when I found myself at another year of tryouts for the girl’s team. The tryout consisted of three long days with a total of twelve hours kicking around in the scorching sun in the middle of August. The year before, I played on the Junior Varsity team with my older brother, Nick, as the coach. After the lengthy tryout was over, I had accomplished what I had hoped for; I was a new member of the women’s Varsity squad. I was very excited to have achieved such a difficult aspiration, but it wasn’t long before I knew I wasn’t totally accepted on the new team. Some of the girls started saying I had only made the team because my brother was the JV coach, and that I had no place on the team. My confidence was shattered and my year was only beginning.
But all things changed when our rival game against Timberline came. I stepped on the field and the score was tied at 0-0. Tensions were getting pretty hot between the two teams. One of my teammates, Grace, ran over to me and said, “I have confidence you are going to do great things today, you’re here on this team for a reason.” After that moment, I ran with great intention and played one of the best games of my entire life. After scoring my first two Varsity goals that day against Timberline, Grace embraced me in a tight hug and said “I told you so!” After that moment my season only got better.
I was finally gaining my confidence back and my teammates and coaches started to recognize what I was capable of. Our team was in the semi-finals for the state championship and things weren’t looking good. The other team was dominating and time was running out. But once I stepped off the bench, within minutes I scored the game winning goal and sent our team to the state championship. It was a remarkable feeling; I would never want to take that moment away. The team had a new appreciation for me because I made an impact.
Soccer at Boise High taught me something new that year: that I was resilient. Whenever I’m in a rut, I know that my resilience will push me to overcome any challenge in front of me. I was never a person that started on the soccer team, but I learned that once I got my chance on the field, that I needed to come off the bench to make a difference. After playing on the women's team for two years, I scored twelve goals and had sixteen assists. Playing soccer at Boise High was an exceptional experience, and I will never forget that it made me aware of my greatest strength: resilience.