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What determination means in my book is to always look for the better. Never give

up and always strive for the best, no matter how hard the road might be. What determination means in the webster dictionary is a firm or fixed intention to achieve a desired end. Determination could also mean perseverance, strong willed, self motivated, relentless, willingness, ambition and strength. And I know I keep using ski racing as an example but it is an awesome example for determination. Not just ski racing but also any other sport out there. Any athlete can agree with me if they love playing sports and strive to be or get better on their part. I know that every sport I have participated in, I always had that inner drive or determination to push myself a little harder each day, practice, race, game, or meet. Iʼve played a lot of sports, such as field hockey, golf, lacrosse, gymnastics, crew racing, ski racing, cross country running, softball, and baseball and in each and every sport, I never gave up. Always wanted to show my coach what I was capable of, and if I didnʼt, I didnʼt feel satisfied. I remember when I was playing field hockey, and it was my sophomore year, I was starter on the Junior Varsity Team and I was put in as left wing, which is a forward. And all I remember was training really hard and showing up to every practice to show the coach I was worth being on Varsity as a sophomore but even though I didnʼt make the varsity team, I didnʼt let that stop me from trying any harder than what I was doing before hand. So I pushed myself everyday and it paid off, I was the lead scorer on the team and the Varsity coach pulled me aside at the end of the season and specifically told me that if I pick up my running by at least two minutes on the 2 mile run, that she would have no problem

pushing me up to the Varsity team. Over that summer, I was out there everyday running and doing my own exercises to become significantly better. Junior year comes along and tryouts are right around the corner, so I was still out there running and running. The day of tryouts, we had to run the 2 mile and I remember as I was running I kept telling myself that I was good enough and that I deserve a Varsity letter. I cross the finish line and I couldnʼt wait to hear my time, I was so anxious that I couldnʼt catch my breath. The coach didnʼt yell out the times that day but after all of the anxiety over the next couple of days, it was decision time. As she was yelling out the names of who made Varsity that year, I kept telling myself not to worry and that I know I made it but just incase I didnʼt I would promise myself to work even more harder. But the coach yelled out my name and I felt that warmer rush or blood just flow throughout my whole entire body. It was beyond rewarding knowing that all of my hard work has finally paid off. But I never stopped working hard after that, I was always working hard on Varsity but it was all worth it in the end, thats for sure. Itʼs kind of the same with with my Lacrosse. Iʼve always found an interest in playing Lacrosse because ever since I was little, my cousins played so when ever they were outside practicing, I was too. As soon as my high school created a team, I was the one to be out every day making sure my stick skills were all right and just practicing as I would when I was little and playing with my cousins. It was close to every day I would always ask someone new if they can teach me something new. I always had the ambition to become just a little better. In gymnastics there would be this little contest to see who can do a hand stand the longest. Even though it was a silly contest. It pushed me to work on my handstands. I wanted to win at least one little competition. To be honest, I have similar stories for all of the sports. In my opinion, it

doesnʼt matter how big or small your goal or ambition is, every one has a little bit of motivation or determination to push out the best.