I’ve never truly excelled in sports; I was alright, but never the star player everyone cheered. I was “the smart girl,” not to be confused with the MVP. But since I attend a small private school, where no one gets cut off of a team at tryouts and players are scarce to be found, I’ve always played tennis. And of course, I wasn’t the best or the worst; I just had fun and filled the necessary number requirement. However, this year, my sophomore year in high school, the girl’s soccer team was desperate for more players. I had continually contemplated joining the soccer team, but the extra running and coordination needed in the sport always drove me away. However, this year was different, and I decided to juggle the two sports in the one season. I mustered up the courage, joined the soccer team, and was surprisingly having more fun than when I was playing tennis, but I had no idea what was to come.
Drama. Drama. Stress.
First, the tennis captain, who shall go un-named, was already mad at me for arguing with her over the unflattering and unnecessary uniforms she wanted to order. Second, the tennis coach, a parent of one of my teammates, was mad at me for not constantly texting her to tell her when I was not coming to practice. This seemed to escalate to her being angry with me for choosing soccer GAMES over going to tennis PRACTICE. And whenever I would go to a tennis game, she would sit me out if she had other options to choose from, which she did almost every time, even though she knew I was slightly better than them. To add to it, my old tennis partner incessantly urged me to go to soccer practices and games over tennis, because we’ve always competed against each other and now she didn’t want me in the picture. (Great tennis partner, right?) And to add to all of that, I was getting behind in my studies, and I had semester exams to worry about. So, to say I was stressed was an understatement.
I could have just quit tennis, and all the drama would have dissipated. I could have focused primarily on soccer, and therefore I would have more time for my studies. The thought sounded more tempting each day, but I am NOT a quitter. I finish all endeavors I start, so I continued playing both sports. I apologized to the tennis captain for appearing to take away her senior privileges. I talked with my coach and apologized for not texting her when I would not be able to attend a game/practice. I confronted my tennis partner about my suspicions, and she denied it and assured me she wasn’t deliberately doing anything like that. I’m not so sure I believe her, but what can I do? I tried anyway. I studied after and before school with my teachers and crammed the night before an exam. Turns out that I aced all of them. I guess there was no real way to take “the smart girl” out of me after all. When all the drama was settled and the exams were finished, I was finally free to relax; all I had to do was just juggle my priorities and make superior compromises.