Strength in the Struggle by Maddie

Strength in the Struggle by Maddie - February 2017 Scholarship Essay

Often, the defining moments that shape us for the future are thought of as the times we face tremendous successes. However, many times we are shaped even more through the challenges, the struggles, and the failures we face along the way. Ever since I was in grade school, I knew I wanted to play college soccer. This has been my dream for years--to be able to pull a college jersey over my head and run out onto that turf.

But, the road to success is often paved with difficulties. Throughout this marathon that has been the college search process, I have faced countless rejections and failures along the way. Most of the times I called or emailed coaches, they never responded. I would call them time and time again, blow up their inboxes with emails, and proceed to get ignored. If a coach finally returned a call or email, they normally were unavailable to come watch me play. In the unlikely event that a coach would actually take the time to come watch me play, they raised my expectations just to shatter them to a thousand pieces. I began to believe that these rejections were what defined me, that I'd never be good enough to play college soccer, that I'd never measure up. But through all these rejections, through all these struggles, I've discovered what actually defines me as a person. I've discovered much more about myself through rejection than I ever would have discovered through immediate success.

There's strength in the struggle, there's tenacity that comes from having to pick yourself up when you're lying on the ground. Through all of these struggles, I've learned that I'm defined by the blind faith to keep going when all I want to do is quit. I'm defined by a certain drive that can't quite be put into words but can only be described as the feeling of total motivation when I'm told I can't do something, to go out and do exactly that. I'm defined by a quiet confidence, a burning passion to be the best that I can be, and a trust that God does have a plan in the midst of the storm.

On October 6, 2016, I committed to play college soccer at a better school than I ever could have dreamed up on my own. This journey has been so hard, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. Without these obstacles, I wouldn't be who I am today. The rejections and hardships have shaped me into a much stronger and more confident version of myself. The perseverance I've learned from this journey has translated into other areas of my life as well. When something is really important to me, I've learned to fight for it at all costs. Whether it's playing my heart out for my team, doing my best in school, pursuing my career goal of helping people with Special Needs, or being there when a friend needs me the most, I've learned to never let go of the things that are important to me. These struggles have taught me that in life, like in athletics, the question is not how many times you fall down, but how many times you get back up.