“Calm down, it's just like any other shot," I think to myself as I set up in the tee box.  I had chosen my 7 wood to drive with because I was most confident with that club. It was a par 4, so the ball shouldn’t go over the green.  I hear a soft “whoosh” as I follow through with my swing. My ball disappeared into the trees like a big whale swallowing krill. I could feel the sun practically seep into my body as I slowly walked in the direction where I think my ball landed while my 3 teammates followed behind me. I didn't realize it at first, but my life would change from that day forward.

Right before each and every meet, the coaches give a little speech. This particular time though, my coach said: "Golf is all about independence, patience, and being positive." Even though those words didn't matter to me at first, they eventually made me a better player and a better person.  I wasn't exactly good at any of those back then, but the important thing is I feel like I'm doing so much better now. I also had a problem with believing in myself, which is also a part of both golf and life. I always doubted myself and thought that I couldn’t do anything correctly.  I've wanted to change that part about myself, but I didn't know how. I didn't give it any thought at first, but I began to change that day.

Not too surprisingly, I had to look for my ball myself while the others went to their own ball.  Although I was used to doing this myself, this particular time, it was proving to be more difficult.  I felt a wave of relief when I came upon my ball. It was close to a tree but still playable without the unplayable lie rule.  One of my teammates always seemed to do more than necessary with her swing. I thought back to my coach's words and remained patient with her.  As I approached my ball and begun my backswing, my eyes darted to a red leaf in a pile of green leaves. The ball seemed to roll every so slowly as it crept up the fairway.  I tried to be positive and after trying this, I thought "If being positive works for golf, then maybe it works for other things too.”

The day before the meet on the putting greens, I worked on visualizing my putt and reading the greens.  After I messed up a shot, my coach told me to imagine how the ball would land in the hole. I wasn’t that great at reading the greens and trying to figure out how I should angle my putter, but the visualizing part just clicked with me. Nearly every time that I did that I could sink a putt in effortlessly. My mind flashbacked to this moment as I was waiting for one of my teammates to finish her putt.

It had rained the night before, so greens were slick with rain.  My ball had landed about 6 feet away from the cup, therefore it wasn't an easy shot, but manageable.  "I can do this," I thought, I took a deep breath, slowly took the putter back, and swung. As I watched the ball roll upward, it reminded me of an ant trying to climb an impossible height.  The ball seemed to vanish like water down a drain as it landed in the cup. It was one of the hardest putts that I have ever made, this action made me believe in my coach's words. That day, I realized that independence, patience, and being positive has a lot to do with my life and how people saw me as a person.  Although I wish I had realized this fact a lot sooner, at least I did for when it really matters.