My Best

A time when I was at my best is at the SCC conference tennis tournament.  At the tournament I feel I reached the best that I could do on the tennis court.  I played as hard as I ever have, as long as I ever have, and as well as I ever have. 

As a freshman tennis player the varsity team seemed impossibly far away.  I was a first year tennis player and struggled to hit the ball in bounds on the easiest returns while the varsity were driving balls down the lane returning a well-placed serve.  Seeing the difference between us really made me want to quit. I never dreamed I would ever match the skill demonstrated by the varsity tennis team.

I decided I was going to stick with it. I never like quitting anything and I sure wasn’t going to start then.  Our coach always said there are five parts to tennis and listed them in order of importance. They were; get it in, control the direction, control distance, use spin, and hit with power. So I began working on the first and most important; get it in.  This skill took my whole freshman year to develop but by the end of it I was able to go up against some of the upperclassman, competing for the 12^th position, just by hitting the ball back and in the boundary lines.  The next year I began to work both on direction and distance. By the end of that year I played at the number 9 and 8 spot. This was quite an achievement for me and gave me drive to play more and more. By my junior year I was able to play with the basics and control the spin I put on the ball, putting a whole new twist in the game I played.  During this year I worked my way to the number 4 spot although I also played number 5 for a lot of meets. 

Finally it was my senior year and I was as excited as ever to begin my tennis season.  The coach had high expectations for us and we did not plan on letting him down. The team went undefeated in the regular conference season and did well against the big schools as well.  The conference tournament was nearing and we were practicing as hard as ever, trying to improve our skills just enough to beat the competition.  When it came we arrived with the determination to win.  All of our nerves were roaring while we warmed up.  My first match was against the number 3 player from Clark county, our nemesis.  I played reasonably well and pulled away with a win.  Although the win was awesome, I knew I needed to play better to get anywhere in the tournament. Through the next few games I played as hard as I possibly could, diving and sliding for balls and never giving up on a shot.  Finally after a very long and tiring day of tennis while most of my teammates were out of the tournament I had my final match for third place.  Both I and my opponent were exhausted. I had heat cramps and could barely make myself run for a ball. But, after a very long and close match, not giving up paid off. I won! I got 3^rd place at the conference tournament in singles and an all-conference award.

The feeling of all of my hard work for the 4 years of high school finally paying off was amazing.  I started off as one of the worst, but with lots of hard work and by listening to my coaches instructions, I was able to pull of what I never thought I could. 

This shows me that although I am currently not very high in skill in my major, if I work hard and listen to my instructors, I could become a very successful aerospace engineer in four years.