Personal Narrative: My Best Horse Show

The season started out like any other, one week of pain staking agony and push-ups. The constant workouts, sweat, and two hour practices were completely worth the outcome of my last volleyball season. The past four years of my high school career I spent being a member of the volleyball team. But to me, this is not just a team, this is my family.

In those two and a half years I started racing. My first time I ever raced I got first place and it was the best feeling ever. I was so proud of what I had accomplished and wanted to keep racing. But after I placed first in that class I got bumped up to a new class that had bigger bikes and faster kids. At the time I was still on the 100 and I was racing kids on bikes twice as big as mine.

I’d consider a score of thirteen to one a butt-kicking, especially coming against one of the proudest travel teams in all of Ohio. With a record of three wins and no losses, our hopes were high. That night we went back to hotel we stayed at and had one of the most enjoyable nights of my life. To this day I still remember it fondly. Buffalo Wild Wings with friends then staying up until twelve-thirty running around the hotel playing tag probably wasn’t the right thing to do eight hours before our next game, but it was enjoyable and luckily for us it didn’t bite us in the butt.

Again it was time for me to kick it was my job and my teammates job to get the ball into the goal. I kicked repeatedly and never made it except once. One more goal and we would win but for the moment we were tied. My chances were slim because I was very tired and sweaty.

My nervous smile spread across my face and the music began. Leaping back and forth across the mat even more powerful than I ever have before calmed my nerves. My first and most important gymnastic passes was approaching, it had to be powerful, precise, and clean. I could feel my legs shaking as I ran fast into my double front flip. The rest of the pass went fast

My legs got wobbly as everything began to spin and the next thing I knew I was falling to the ground. Starting cross-country my senior year was terrifying, but I am so grateful I did because this moment during my first race taught me a lot about my strength and persistence when I am tested with any type of challenge. It has allowed me to overcome anything I may face not only in running but in all aspects of my life. My senior year I switched from the Orange County School of the Arts to Edison High School and joined the cross-country team. I started training with the team over the summer.

My partner this year was Denton Good, his family and mine have been very good friends for a very long time,our dad’s rodeo together a long time ago. In the first round in ribbon roping we were a 13.3 seconds that put us number one in that performance, but third in the whole go round. I was so excited when we went to awards Friday night, it was my first ever national buckle I had ever won in my life. Then in the second round we were a 12 flat that puts us third in the go again.

In the competition I defeated wrestlers who had wrestled many years. Although, I did not compete in the state competition I am happy to have made it so far in three months.

Everything fell into its place, and I finally discovered what I loved most. I am so grateful I never quit after that first practice, cheer has shaped who I am today. I’m now a captain and three year cheerleader at Brighton, 2 year United Spirit Association All-American Athlete, and planning to cheer in college. Cheer has given me so much, my best friends, a great relationship with my school and a positive high school experience. I have no idea who or where I would be today if I decided to quit that first horrible practice.

I was so ready to play I just knew we were going to roll right over our rivals. I’d never been so wrong in my entire life. The game started off decent enough. We won the coin toss and chose to receive the ball first.

We all celebrate our exciting moment of victory, but months later the tryouts for the summer travel team would happen. The fun-filled first day was also nerve-wracking, but we all have each other like a family. Then, the next day of tryouts with starting sprints and stretching. Next, the contact portion - tackling with passing - came upon us faster than we thought. The first times through the drill went well, but it’s finally my turn after waiting in line.

The GHS team which named themselves the – Red Hot Cooker Pressures- took first place over 32 other teams representing 27 other high schools from around the state, many of which had student enrollments of over 2,000 students. The teams GHS beat were not only from bigger high schools but larger towns and areas with a greater variety of grocery stores and specialty items. Mrs. Dolphin explained that being in Greenville can come with its limitations sharing, “we are limited to the ingredients we can access and the resources and people we have access to.” However, she shared, “we have Sean Conry, who is a tremendous asset to the students who compete every year and a key component to our victory this year.” Conry is an award-winning chef who worked as the Executive Chef at Longboards for 15 years and is now a Culinary Arts Professor at Feather River College.

Next week they have a huge game against the second place Green Bay Packers. 6. Pittsburgh Steelers: 6-4 (9) One thing I am certain about is the Steelers will win one of the wild cards in the AFC. If it weren’t for an abundance of injuries, the Steelers would, in my opinion, be a top three team in the entire league.

I should have imagined what to do in this scenario, because it was the only one that actually happened. It was the regional meet in Delta. This was the fastest course in the state, as evidenced by the incredible times run there. This meet was the culmination of over six months of work, physical therapy, and weightlifting. So far throughout the season,

“Touchdown Lafayette!” This was the start to my high school career and we were losing in the first half of the game. It took them forever to score so I believed that the defense could go hard and stop them just once. We knew if we lost it would be some smack going on social media so someone had to step up.