{"id":14760,"date":"2019-12-05T09:40:47","date_gmt":"2019-12-05T15:40:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/?p=14760"},"modified":"2020-12-17T16:14:33","modified_gmt":"2020-12-17T22:14:33","slug":"discovering-confidence-on-and-off-the-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/2019\/12\/05\/discovering-confidence-on-and-off-the-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Discovering Confidence On And Off The Court"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CatherineThe following essay is adapted from MPA Class of 2020 member Catherine Moore\u2019s Senior Speech.<\/em><\/p>\n

I have been at MPA since kindergarten and during my time here, I have done and been many different things. In the early years, my aspirations ranged from being a veterinarian\u2014a job that many regular people would think is a good life goal\u2014to astronaut\u2014again, a good job, though harder to get there, but still fairly normal … to finally … a mermaid. Clearly, my interests would wander, changing with whatever creative thought passed through my head. Luckily, MPA gave me a place to explore my less realistic, yet aspirational side. I don\u2019t know about doing right, but I definitely dreamed big.<\/p>\n

My afterschool interests varied, too. I tried soccer and swimming, joined basketball and played volleyball. I loved everything about sports … especially the competitiveness. I enjoyed being physical and loved my will to win. I engaged in as many sports as possible. Eventually, however, it was volleyball that caught my attention and gave me an anchor and a steady focus. In many ways, some of the most important lessons I have learned have come from being on a volleyball team, whether that was here at MPA or on a club team.<\/p>\n

The most important life skill I have learned from volleyball is confidence. Before starting volleyball, I had never been able to play a sport without constantly comparing myself and my skills to others. Once I decided to really dedicate myself to volleyball in ninth grade, I improved rapidly. I was able to finally see my own merit as a player and stopped constantly comparing myself to others. I knew that I had some skills that were good on their own and were not relative to those around me, and that felt affirming.<\/p>\n

At some point, I realized that I could hit the ball pretty hard. That made me feel powerful and strong, which then translated into off-the-court activities as well. I became more confident in the classroom, engaging in conversation, asking questions, and being proud of the work I turned in. All of that started with how I felt on the volleyball court.<\/p>\n

Over the years, I have realized my appreciation for volleyball is not just about the sport, it is about the leadership and teamwork. Volleyball is far more than a game or a competition or a practice; it is something into which I can unleash my frustrations and enthusiasm, my joys and sadness. Believe me, nothing feels better than spiking a volleyball.<\/p>\n

Of course, none of that would happen without the girls around me. Volleyball is a team sport and without my teammates, I would not be able to play this sport that I love. In many sports, you can have just one or two good players and still win. In volleyball, everyone must be engaged, bringing their own skills to each play. I couldn\u2019t hit if somebody didn\u2019t pass. That kind of interdependence brings a closeness on the court between teammates. Because of this, I have learned to trust other people, to work as a team, and to deal with the \u2018human\u2019 aspect of the people around me. This is a skill that will serve me well both in college and beyond.<\/p>\n

Even though volleyball is the sport that I love, it also is where I fail the most. Failure is part of the game. The failure is what pushes me to be the best player that I can possibly be. Volleyball is a game of errors. I have learned that making a mistake is not the end of the world and that my teammates will support me no matter what. Making faults is what makes up the game of volleyball, and once I realized that, I began to succeed in the sport.<\/p>\n

Rebounding after a mistake is the most challenging part of volleyball. It drives me to be the best player I can be and to shake off past errors. It is difficult, but I know that in life, errors are going to be made, and how I react to them is what counts. Having supportive people in my life, just like on the volleyball court will help me recover from my failures. Through volleyball, I have learned many effective techniques to deal with frustrating mistakes that I know will help me succeed in the future.<\/p>\n

As a senior, I now clearly see that there are many different kinds of teams: my friends, my classmates, my family, the yearbook crew, and of course, my volleyball, basketball, and track teams. You are the people who have supported me and made me better. I would like thank everybody who was a part of my team. I have met many people through my years at MPA that have helped shape who I am. I want to thank the Class of 2020 for the support that each one of you have given me. Whether I have known you since kindergarten or more recently. Every one of you have helped me become a better person.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following essay is adapted from MPA Class of 2020 member Catherine Moore\u2019s Senior Speech. I have been at MPA since kindergarten and during my time here, I have done and been many different things. In the early years, my aspirations ranged from being a veterinarian\u2014a job that many regular people would think is a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":14762,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,15,28,24,29,9,12,27,10025,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-admission","category-athletics","category-current-families","category-featured-posts","category-homepage","category-lower-school","category-middle-school","category-my-mpa-experience","category-student-experience","category-upper-school"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14760"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14935,"href":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14760\/revisions\/14935"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}