Member-only story
The Secret Weapon That Takes Student Veterans From Good to Amazing
“To hell with circumstances. I create opportunities.” — Bruce Lee
In the eighth grade my parents somehow convinced me to join a softball team. To be clear, I am not, nor have I ever been, an athlete. Mostly I was terrified of making a mistake and making the whole team mad at me (which I did all the time).
One day, I even managed to hit the ball (despite shutting my eyes when I swung). I felt AMAZING. I even made it to second base!
But once there, I decided to do the baseball players I saw on TV do and started creeping towards third. Apparently, you can’t “lead off” in softball, and the ump called me out.
Humiliated, I trudged off the field with everyone watching.
The coach came up to me a few minutes later as I was stuffing my face at the snack bar.
“Hey, did you see that tall girl hit that double just now?” he asked.
I shook my head and mumbled “No.”
He stood there and said nothing until I looked up at him. He was smiling. Finally, it dawned on me.
“Oh,” I said. “You mean me?”
I’ve never forgotten that coach, and how he made me feel.
