I believe in the power of determination. Anytime I promised myself I was going to do something, I did. The cost, amount of effort, and the length of time required to complete the goal never stepped in the way of whatever I set out to achieve.
When I was eight years old I accompanied my mother to my brother's high school. I happened upon the wrestling room and I promised my mother I would do that someday. Naturally she laughed. That was the first goal I ever set for myself.
For the next few years I played sports. I became an impressive soccer player. I also played football, basketball, baseball, softball, and was two-time captain of my junior high track team. When I entered high school, my friends and mother did not approve of girls wrestling, so regrettably, I decided not to join. But when my sophomore year rolled around, I realized that what people thought of me did not matter so much. Those who love me will love me no matter what I chose to do for myself.
A friend of mine gave me all of his old gear and a ride home every day after wrestling practice, so I laced up my shoes and stepped onto the mat that would become my future. I lost every match that year but I didn't give up. I stuck with wrestling. Two practices a day all year long, even through my two-year stint as class president and varsity soccer participation. My ACL reconstruction that ended my hope for a soccer career, as I knew it, did not even put a damper on my wrestling career. I eventually became senior caption and wrestled in college. I also coached at my old high school.
I use my wrestling background in my current sport. I am now a mixed martial arts cage fighter. Since I have completed my earlier endeavors,I have two new goals that I am determined to reach. I want to graduate college with a double major by the winter of 2008, and I want to be a professional fighter. Because I achieved that first goal I set for myself and every other goal since I know that I will achieve these two new goals. Nothing will stop me, not my three knee surgeries, not my full time job, not my family, not romance, nothing. I believe in the power of determination, and that belief has shaped me into the person I have always wanted to be.