Reflection Paper

When I first decided to expand my education, it had been so long since I had been to school, and I was very hesitant. I talked at length about my decision with my husband and with his encouragement, decided to enroll but still was not quite sure which degree program to enroll in. I knew that this was something that I had always wanted to do since I obtained my Associates Degree in Nursing, but I did not have the courage, nor did I want to give up the time with my family and children. I second guessed my abilities and my knowledge because it had been so long since I had been in college. Now that my children are about to graduate high school and

I had such a passion for the sport and had never stopped loving it. Even though it took a lot of work to get back into shape and a lot of work to get back the techniques, I was happy to push myself. I decided to try out for the team at my community college sophomore year. I was genuinely terrified but I reminded myself that this type of opportunity was one that I could not take for granted. I made the team, but that was only half the battle. I wanted to be better than I was before. I wanted to prove that I could make a comeback and I needed to do it for myself. There were so many practices I felt like giving up and tried to justify it by the fact I had missed so many years and it was hopeless. The season had its ups and downs, but I had never been so proud of myself. I played great and I gave it my all. I learned a lot about myself as I played the game and also off the court with my teammates. I played college volleyball after three years of not being able to be on the court. I learned that I was resilient and there was nothing that I could not do as long as I worked for

I started playing volleyball in 1st grade on the CEGCYRA teams here in Eureka. I immediately had a connection between the competition and just having fun with my friends. One time I remember playing a game where the ball went into the net and I got it, then Ashley Leman got it back up. It did not go over but when you were in 1st grade and got the ball out of the net, it was a big deal. I feel like I can remember every detail of that game for some reason and don’t know why. I play volleyball here at the middle school and we are doing pretty

I instantly felt dismayed at the remark the coach had said to me and left wondering what I'd done wrong. As I got home, my dad asked me how the practice had been that day. I confided what the coach had told me and he advised me to forget about it and to work hard during the practices. So, every time I played volleyball I played hard and rigorously, even when it was just meant to be for fun. My dad also supported me by taking me to the church building so I can practice there, we'd set up and start doing drills. I ended that volleyball season playing the most with the junior varsity team. The coach congratulated me because he noticed that I had improved a lot since the beginning of the season. Once I began my junior year and tryouts came, I was more confident about my ability to succeed, this newfound faith in myself led me to re-join varsity and to become starter of the

I was finally so excited and so ecstatic. I finally could prove to the middle school coaches that I was good enough to play, that season the freshman team had better stats than varsity and junior varsity. That really had an effect on my ego, I thought because of that I was better than everyone. I even played on an eighteen year old team when I was 16 and an elite team after that. So highschool season comes along and I don’t make the junior varsity or varsity team and I was really upset. I put so much hard work and determination to play, I put more hardwork than anyone on the team. I remember the varsity coach pulling me aside saying, “Alexis you’re a very strong volleyball player with many talents. But as a coach I can’t split up my varsity girls. We just don’t have room, but if you were at a different school you’d make it.” Also my senior year i got told, “Your stats aren't as a good as the other girl for your position.” They’ve never witnessed me play, how would they

I started playing volleyball in 3rd grade. My dad wanted me to play because my sister also played. It was my first day being a 3rd grader and my dad told me I should get into volleyball. From there I wasn’t sure if I wanted to play. I watched my sister play every game and it looked like it was hard so I didn’t think I could do it.

You know the kids that are just athletically inclined? Yeah, that's not me, but despite my lack of natural talent I wanted to be a volleyball player with everything in me. So I tried out for the 7th grade team and ended up making it, I should probably mention everyone did, but man was I excited. The excitement tapered off as I sat most games or even worse, went into the game and made a fool of myself. But for some reason I loved the game and all I wanted was to be a high school volleyball player.

My jumps became higher, my hits harder, and my blocks more effective. I apprehended that the moments of failure when my coaches chose not to place me on varsity were not something I could manage, but my dedication and my play were something I could. Once I realized I could only control myself and my play it created all the difference. Prior failures pushed me to become better, not by others standards, but by my own. Senior year I achieved the all tourney team at a tournament and ended my volleyball career with my best game by far, not to mention I endured my most enjoyable season yet. Maybe I didn’t accomplish signing my name to a college career, but I did achieve becoming my best athlete and overall my best self. Overcoming failure in volleyball forced me to become more positive and taught me to overlook the small failures in life. I may not have a lifelong career in volleyball, but the lessons I learned from failures in the game are sure to last a

I made the team and was on it for my next two years of middle school. Being on a school team is very competitive. We had tournaments at least one weekend of the month, and they lasted all day long. With one tournament we could play up to four games and still not be close to the championship game. Each county has a tournament hosted by one of the schools in that county. My seventh grade year the tournament was at Buckhorn Middle School. Buckhorn volleyball parents are very obnoxious. They would scream at us playing and bang on the bleachers trying to get us to miss our serves. It never worked, just became very annoying after awhile. We won that tournament and were the Madison County Champions. I was also chosen for the All-State volleyball team for Alabama from that

Sophomore year came, and I was nervous because now there was jv dark and varsity to worry about. I came to tryouts, and gave all my effort on volleyball as well as my friends. They had made the teams, and I never expected to be in jv dark. My best friends didn 't made it to jv dark but I couldn 't miss this opportunity. In addition, I was depressed that I could not be with them, but I needed to be in a team that I knew it was going to help me become better. It surely did because now there was more tasks that I could do. My serves were something no one could receive. Consequently, the only horrible part of jv dark is that I never had the chance to play. I came to practice everyday and I followed instructions, I never complained if we ran, but the coach never showed me that I could be in the court. I did showed her, I tried to show off my abilities in volleyball for her to notice. As a result to that she always put me aside. In effect of this, it brought me down I

Coming from a sport-oriented high school, I felt that I also had to make a legacy for myself. I choose to play volleyball for the four years of my high school career and they were the best four years of any sport I've played. Although I never played on a club volleyball team like my fellow teammates, I played just as well. I believe that not playing on a club team actually made me a stronger player and person for it. I definitely had to work twice as hard as the other girls to make up for the difference, but I learned to be tough and hard working. Besides that, volleyball made me a well rounded person. I learned how to cope with high stress levels in difficult situations such as during a game. Not only that, but learned how to bounce back after

I have excelled in many ways thanks to my year of volleyball. I can see the differences and how I've improved and become better in my 4 years of volleyball. I remember not being able to bal very well and I remember the first time I got the ball over then net and  this past season I was able to do my first backwards set. I have grown both physically and mentally and have become better than I ever imagined,. There is still room for improvement, but that will help me continue to excel. Each year we’ve made it far because of our teamwork. Not only did volleyball help me excel on the court, but I excelled in school. I saw that if I could get better and better in volleyball than I could do the same with my school work. My life has becoming better and better and I hope that I will continue using all that I have learned from volleyball in my future. I don’t know what my life would’ve become without it and I can happily say that playing volleyball was the best choice I ever made in my

Playing on the varsity volleyball team is an adrenaline rush like no other. To be able to play the sport you love with teammates that are like family, in front of a crowd of actual family members is the ultimate feeling. Playing is even better when you, a small town nobody, beat a ranked team in the first set. We had just beaten Humboldt 25-17 and I was on top of the world. We were playing like our lives depended on it and I couldn’t be more proud of the girls.

I first started playing volleyball at a very young age. I was in the seventh grade when my volleyball career started. My sister started playing in the seventh grade and I just wanted to follow her footsteps. My seventh grade year was ok because I had just started out and really didn’t know the game. There was A team and a B team, where A team was better than the B team. I tried my best to be on the A-team, but guess where I ended up, on the B team.

To most children, the world is seen as a utopian society. Nothing can go wrong, and the concept of death isn’t ingrained in their memory yet. But, what happens when that façade is broken? For me, it was ruined at a much earlier age than most. In this speech, I will detail what effect certain events have had on my life, as well as what they’ve done to change me as person.