(16, TX, USA) Arin - Goal Is The Passion
In our lifetime, we are met with competition consistently, from sports to academics. But what fuels our actions in competition? Passion. Passion roots from the recollection of past fond memories. Passion defines our excellence and is an emotion. Mine started as early as my 5th-grade soccer tournament.
In the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, my love for the sport of soccer was born. My father asked my uninterested older brother to watch the final with him, but he was too preoccupied with his Nintendo DS. Thus, my father turned to me. I was just like any young child—I’d play anything and try anything just for the fun of it. Little did I know that this 90-minute game of players kicking a ball around would become my passion for life. It was an art. My 6-year-old mind had expanded from kindergarten finger painting to the Sistine Chapel work of Michelangelo. Soccer was an art. I watched Lionel Messi slalom through defenders, each dribble like a stroke of paint on the white canvas, slowly building color to present the full painting: the goal.
Fast forward 5 years later, I joined my first club soccer team. Here I’d make my mark, living the dream I saw on the television screen. But what leads to a dream? Dreams are universal. Anyone can dream, but it's just that—a dream. As humans, we are by nature prone to dreaming of our successes, but often we lack the drive and hunger to make them a reality. Such is the nature of human behavior. Our morality judges this so. But to reap the rewards of achieving our dreams, we must kindle the flame of passion. Our passion to go big will earn us this medal, in my case, a goal.
My team cruised game to game, winning with ease; we felt unstoppable. We progressed to the quarterfinals of the tournament. However, despite all this success and victory, I still lacked one thing: my first goal. Our quarterfinal match began in the icy cold Minnesota winter. The wind felt like knives slicing across my cheek. But my senses all burned for the net. Known for our winning mentality, my team had gone up 4-0 in the first half. I was frustrated. I knew I was not in my place to be discontent during my team’s success, but my dream, my passion—I felt it slipping away. I needed to score. I had to.
The second half proceeded well; we kept up with counters, we held the ball well, and one thing led to another. Then it happened. The brush had mixed the perfected colors, the desired pigment had blossomed, and the canvas itched to be completed—my goal was to be painted. My teammate delivered a powerful shot from outside the 18-yard box, slamming into the opposing defender like a pinball. Then it fell to me. I mastered my positioning; the physics of the ball would be unpredictable if unleashed from that distance and from my teammate. My cells flew into sync with each other. Here I would paint that little “happy cloud” to my landscape. The ball, a few meters off the ground, I delivered a powerful half-volley from inside the box. I watched as the ball soared toward the goal, caressing the net sweetly as the goalie was left starstruck. My painting was complete. An ecstasy like no other—a passion, a dream 5 years in the making. This was my masterpiece.
But this is not the full extent of passion. Of course, it was an incredibly pleasurable moment in my life that developed at a young age, but we can take this further. Our passion can be used in any case. What I demonstrated can be extrapolated tenfold into applications in our career and life events. We must harness our passion, just as I did, and use it as fuel to achieve what we want. As hockey player Wayne Gretzky once said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” so let your passion be the force, and take that shot, just as I did.
