Superstar
As a child, you had a lot of pent-up energy that your parents attempted to channel into dance class. As the first child and first girl in your family, your parents felt that they would put you into a “girly” sport. You only had to attend two sessions before your dance teacher could inform your parents that you were too “aggressive” for dance and would never be “delicate” enough. Your mother took immediate offense and signed you up for the first “non-girly” sport that she could find. She happened upon T-ball since dad was a world-class church-league softball player. It would be great to sit here and tell you that you happened to be phenomenal and that it was the sport that turned you to softball- the game that afforded you a full-ride scholarship to college. The reality of the situation was that you were also terrible at T-ball, literally unable to hit the ball on the tee. When chasing the ball in the outfield, you would just kick it instead. It was like your feet had their own idea of how you should be playing sports.
Thankfully, the next stop on your parent’s attempt to expend your energy was soccer. The sport changed your childhood and a majority of your young adulthood. The game changed who you were as a person and gave you the theme song for your life. Bachman Turner Overdrive’s song “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”, has been your “theme song” since you were four years old. Your father is always quick to tell a story of you riding in the old Ford F150, on the way to your first soccer game, and the song “Bad to the Bone” came on. The song was an old favorite in your household. Your dad made the joke that he felt like this was his theme song during sports because when he played church league softball, his best games took place when he heard that song on the radio right before his matches. Coincidentally, this song came on right before he saw your mother for the first time. Your mother happened to be walking by to hang out with one of her friends and watch the church-league game. Father knew that the song made him better and allowed him to find the motivation to do impossible things. Consequently, he went ahead and asked your mother out on their first date. Surprisingly, the next song on the radio turned out to be the theme song of your life. It was as if fate had chosen the song that would your character and help in making decisions after that.
There you were, four years old and completely lacked sufficient training to be the best on the field. Your parents thought that you had about five practices before your first game, but you were so determined to be the best on the field. After all, you went out of the way to kick a T-ball when you were supposed to be hitting the ball. You mother distinctly remembers looking at your father before the game started and mouthed the title of the song. She just knew that you were going to be the next Mia Hamm; a professional soccer player born on the same date as you. After the game ended, you had scored seven goals, which were an outstanding achievement for a young soccer player at the age of four. Henceforth, that song inspired you to push further and try harder to become the best you could be. Moreover, the song linked you to your father in a way that neither of you could explain.
You continued to play soccer until you were 18 years old when you tore your knee in a soccer accident. It was the most devastating thing that had happened to you in your life. It seemed to take so long to see your smile happen again. However, you dusted yourself and rose again. You decided the time that the injury had afforded you to focus solely on your academics and pursue a career in a field that you never mentioned before that time. Throughout that time, you continued to listen to your theme song. You felt better each day, and nothing could bring you down since your song gave you courage and strength to battle all odds.