Dear Mrs. Abby O'Connor, Coach at East Prairie School,

Over the past two years during volleyball season, you majorly influenced me. Most importantly, you taught me many big life lessons. Because the entire season made me work extremely hard, you taught me to try my best and never give up. At one point in both seasons, I lost my serve and missed every single one. These moments in the season made me feel as if I played poorly and I wanted to give up. Instead, you taught me to aspire to work harder and play even better to improve my skills. Also in the seasons, I experienced certain terrible days where I felt exhausted, upset, and I wanted to leave. I specifically remember you trying to make practice fun and make the entire team feel better. Along with all the fun, you still coached strictly with our training and work, but this made us better players.

I admire your capabilities as a player, but also as a coach. Coaching always involves struggles and difficulties, but your determination and patience helped throughout the season. You definitely experienced difficulties with us, as well as yourself, including the day of our last practice before the tournament. At school, multiple events occupied both gyms restricting us from practicing. It seems unimaginable, as a coach, to hear that news. But, in the end, we practiced almost two hours later and that turned into one of the best days I spent during the volleyball season. You felt very determined, but also patient to continue with practice and to make us work before the tournament and I truly respect these qualities.

I appreciate you for everything you taught me in volleyball and for the great experiences in the season. I grew so much as a volleyball player with my skills and abilities, but also as a person with all the lessons you taught me. I feel very thankful I won second place twice with you as my coach. I thank you for coaching me for two seasons and for you wanting to teach me, make me better, and help me improve. You taught me so much as a coach, a mentor, but also as a friend and I thank you so much for that.