I believe in myself.
It was packed high school gym with no seats left to spare. There was a loud sound of the buzzer indicating the period was over. We are in the heart of the high school wrestling season and the energy in the gymnasium is electric. The top two teams in the state are squaring off. I am unable to focus on anything else but Stronger by Kanye West playing through my headphones. It was time, the last match of the night. If I win my team gets the victory. If I lose I disappoint everyone.
This experience was one of the most tense in all my time playing sports. I was wrestling a higher ranked opponent than me who had also pinned me the week before. I wasn’t expecting my match to be the ultimate decider between which team won or lost. I was down by a couple points going into the final period of the match. In the end, I pulled out a victory in the final seconds to give my team the win. The gym went nuts.
Not a lot people had high hopes for our team to win once they realized that my match would be the deciding factor, including some of my coaches and teammates. However, I never once had a doubt in my mind that I could win the match. So I went out there and did it, despite being the big underdog. That is why I value believing in yourself more than anything else. If you tell yourself you can do something and block out all the other obstacles, you can do almost anything.
After overcoming those odds, I was more confident in trying to accomplish harder tasks in life. Once I got to college I decided to join a fraternity, not expecting to hold any tough positions or anything. When the house was on the brink of getting suspended from national headquarters, I decided I would take over as President. After a year of putting in hard work, I managed to turn our fraternity into one of the most respected ones at Penn State and our national headquarters.
Everyone in life is going to face tough obstacles at some point. Life is not easy. However, if you have a strong belief in yourself, I truly believe there is nothing you can’t accomplish. No one is going to live your life for you. In the end, it is all about the work you decide to put in and whether you believe you can accomplish your goals or not.