Winning the Championship - Student's Hearts by Carrie

Winning the Championship - Student's Hearts by Carrie - November 2019 Scholarship Essay

High school can be a rough four years – or it can be an amazing four years. Either way, it is the student body who has the greatest impact on how this time is viewed. It is the students who wake up every morning, attend classes, participate in extracurricular activities, represent the community, befriend one another, and between these interactions, students impact one another, as well.

This being said, one way I believe I have impacted my school and the students the most is by moving to my town my sophomore year of high school and joining athletics. Though this may sound controversial, because as the saying goes, there is no I in TEAM, I believe because of my commitment and leadership towards my high school athletics program that I helped shape how our high school and student body act towards athletics today. My high school at first believed that girls athletics was a joke, but through perseverance and diligence, our student body ended up believing in our capability to succeed more than they ever had before.

As a multi-sport athlete, athletics has always been my top priority (but academics first, of course) because of my passion for all competitive games and my drive to want to succeed. I have competed in volleyball, basketball, softball, track, tennis, baseball (with boys!) and even tried football, too (quarterback). With parents who are coaches, moving from town to town has always been a way of life, but entering high school, it was time to find somewhere to settle down – and to find somewhere I could graduate from. This led my family to my current high school, and thus, the journey began.

Lettering in varsity in every sport I have ever played, I am the setter in volleyball, point guard for basketball, pitcher for softball, as well as the team captain for all three sports. Moving to a school where athletics (girls athletics, especially) was not prioritized or even really respected, I knew it would take time, effort, and leadership on my part to help my fellow teammates to be the best they could be. The student body was skeptical towards athletics, having dealt with years of losing seasons and backlash of “not being good (athletically) at anything.” I was looking to change this point of view to help impact my high school in such a way that athletics was both loved and cherished once again.

I contributed hours upon hours of extra practice time with teammates who were motivated to become better. I enthusiastically gave voice to the victories that could be achieved through hard work and team chemistry. I dedicated myself to the practices and games and offered reassurance when needed to those who were doubting themselves. I pushed those who needed to be pushed and pulled in those who acted hesitant on the sideline - all to create an athletic program that the girls, that we, could be proud of. In volleyball, I gave extra sets to my hitters; in basketball, I ran the court with my guards; in softball, I took extra grounders with the infield and pitched to practicing batters. Through the drama, the questioning, the highs and the lows, and the rollercoaster of seasons, I made sure my impact on my high school and the student body was one that would last generations. Our teams’ successes were my school’s successes; our failures were the school’s failures. Slowly but surely, athletics and the student body found harmony in representing our beloved high school.

As things became more enjoyable, the community and student body came to support every game in every sport, cheering when we won and holding us up when we lost. Our high school athletic program went from something that was laughed at to a program that was respected, not only by our school and community, but by neighboring schools as well. Our volleyball team, both my sophomore and junior years, went farther than any previous year. Currently, in my senior year, we are bettering our record game by game, day by day, practice by practice. My sophomore and junior years, our basketball team broke records, defied the odds, and finished as District Champions, my teammates helping me become the District’s Most Valuable Player. This year, we expect to do something no one would have thought possible a few years ago: make the State Championship basketball game. Sophomore year when softball season rolled around, we finished as District Champions, and my teammates, once again, helped me earn the title of District Pitcher of the Year. My junior year, I ended with being the District’s Most Valuable Defensive Player. As a senior, it’s believed we can do something else that was thought not possible: make the State Championship softball game!

I like to believe that because of my positivity, commitment to the girls, and leadership towards the volleyball, basketball, and softball teams, my impact on my high school and the student body was one that will maybe, just maybe, never be forgotten.