Decision making can be described as a process of making a decision or decisions, based on choices affected by two or more outside factors. Everyday, we are called to make decisions. Whether they are important such as choosing a college or something as simple as choosing a meal, all decisions have consequences and require time and thinking. Throughout my lifetime, I have had to make decisions involving hockey.

My dad has always been a dedicated Chicago Blackhawks fan. When I was born, hockey was always being talked about around me, although it was not until the age of 12 that I started playing. Everyday after school in the cold, harsh winters, my dad would take me to the local park to practice my skating and shooting. We would spend hours outside working on my shooting until our toes froze. My dad finally agreed to put me in an organized league where I began playing real games. It did not take me a long time to learn the game of hockey and I knew it was a sport I wanted to stick with for the rest of my life. The first team I played with was called ‘Niles Rangers’ and it was located just a few miles away from my house. I was nervous at first because I was playing with kids that have been playing 5 or more years more than I have. With a little more practice and preparation, I became faster and more experienced. If I was not at school or with my family, I was getting better and better at hockey.

Hockey quickly became the focus of my life. When I entered high school, I started playing on a team called “Glenview Stars”. After 4 years of my hockey career, I was at a tournament with my team in South Bend, Indiana. During the 2nd game of the tournament, I was skating the puck up and as I crossed center ice, I flicked the puck down into the other corner and before I could even think, a player from the other team came from the other side and hit me hard, sending me straight to the ground. With an excrutiating pain in my right leg, I tried to stand up but I couldn’t. I knew it was not just a bruise, I had broken my leg. My teammates carried me off the ice and into the locker room and I waited for an ambulance to arrive. All that was running through my head was where I would go from here. I thought my hockey career was over. It took 1 month of therapy and 4 months of hopping around in crutches for me to even start walking again, let alone stepping on the ice. After 6 long months, I was finally back on the ice and was determined to get even better. After a few more years of practice and experience, I decided to try out for a team in Peoria, Illinois. Mitch Surrell, the coach at Augustana College, came up to me ggafter one of my tryouts and was interested in getting to know me better so I could play for his team. Mitch would attend some of my home games to see how I was improving. On October 5, 2014, I committed to Augustana College. This was an amazing opportunity for me, as I wanted to keep my hockey career going and go as far as possible as I could.
  I kept Mitch updated on my hockey seasons and told him all about my improvements. Mitch offered me with a great opportunity - he wanted me to move to Wyoming to play with older guys on junior team. At first I was excited and I knew I wanted to go, but then I started to think about my life in Chicago. I was faced with an important decision - to move to Wyoming and leave my family and friends, or to stay home and give up this opportunity. It took me a lot of time to think, I had to consider the consequences, both positive and negative. I would have to leave everyone that I loved and I would not get the chance to graduate with my closest friends. I would have to start a new life with a new family and get to know everyone else in the new town I would be moving to. After weeks of thinking about this, I had to make the decision that was best for me and my family, I decided to stay in Chicago and continue playing in Glenview. Although it took a lot for me to tell Mitch that I could not take this offer and I often regretted it, I knew it was the right choice.

   This decision was one of the most important decisions I’ve ever had to make regarding my hockey career and my life. My hockey career still continues today as I am looking for opportunities similar to the one I was offered and this decision impacted the way I play today. I am more determined and I tend to think about the positives more than the negatives - I am still playing the sport I love with the support of the people around me that I love.