“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard” -Kevin Durant. Being a late bloomer to the sport of lacrosse, I knew I was going to have to put in hours of practice and running to beat out the kids who had more experience. My decision to play lacrosse made the biggest impact on my life. Lacrosse taught me work ethic, leadership, and that practice makes perfect.

From the first time I picked up a stick four years ago, I knew I wanted to be the best. Every day before and after school, I would walk to the school right by my house and throw the ball against a wall for hours on end. Wall ball increased my stick skills. Practice makes perfect. Being a good athlete and being very competitive, I was able to pick the sport up pretty quickly.

My best friend’s dad, who recently passed away, has a daughter who started to play lacrosse around the same time I did. Her dad would drive past the park and see me playing and then tell his daughter: “If you want to be good, go to the park with Sam, he is out there every day working.”

The summer when I was going into freshman year, I went to a lacrosse camp in Wisconsin. The camp was run by some of the most prominent Division 1 coaches in the country. At this four day camp, it was lacrosse all day, every day. The camp taught lacrosse fundamentals that improved my overall performance. I walked out of the camp 10x better than I was when I first got there. I continuously worked until the spring. Lacrosse is a spring sport and spring 2012 was my first high school season. I had five month to keep practicing. Practice makes perfect and I wanted to be perfect.

After my freshman season I knew I wanted to play lacrosse in college. I was determined to work my ass off to get there. On my bedroom wall I wrote, in sharpie, specific goals I had for every day. My favorite is “When you want to succeed a bad as you want to breathe, that’s when you’ll be successful.” That quote reminds me every day how far I’ve come and how far I still have to go. This year, junior year, is the biggest year of high school. Junior year is the most important year for grades as well as sports. In January I was selected to be a 2014 Brine All-American as well as to represent my state in a five day tournament in Maryland. Twenty other states will be competing for a national championship, and we will be playing for 27 of the best division 1 scouts and coaches. The first thing I see on my “wall of goals” is “Don’t get up unless you’re gonna die for it”. I want to succeed as badly as I want to breathe and I’m sure as hell willing to be the best or die trying.

In the past four years I’ve come far. Countless Friday and Saturday nights spent at the lacrosse field while my friends were out partying. I’ve sacrificed friends, memories and parties to gain skill and character. Lacrosse has revealed levels of dedication and character I didn’t know I had. The decision to play lacrosse has changed my values and life forever. Lacrosse shaped me into the person I am today. Character is what you do while nobody is looking, and I’ve been revealing my character for the past four years and I will be for the rest of my life.