Senior Night

Soccer has been my favorite sport ever since I started playing in kindergarten. I was a pretty average player, but I always had a passion for "the beautiful game". After four years of high school soccer, it was finally Senior Night. Our coach displayed a whiteboard with the lineup and I was slated to start for the first time in my varsity career. However, someone pointed out that our coach had named twelve starters when there was only supposed to be eleven. And of course, I was the one that got the axe. As the team took the field, I helplessly watched eleven others live out my dream. Was I happy for them? Sure. Was I still heartbroken? Absolutely.

To make matters worse, I did not play a single minute of the entire first half. At one point, my team took a 1-0 lead and I could not even bring myself to celebrate. I was too busy seriously considering if I should just get up and leave. There was no reason for me to be there if I, a senior, was not playing on Senior Night. One of the other seniors riding pine was a friend of mine named Jake.

“We’re gonna take over this game,” he told me. This got me fired up and I decided to stay, as leaving would only make things worse. The score was 1-1 as I was subbed in to start the second half, and that was probably the best half of soccer I have ever played. It felt like I was jumping a few inches higher than normal and I ran faster than ever. The game remained tied by the end of regulation. Senior Night was going to extra time.

“Need a breather?” my coach asked before overtime began. I shook my head because nothing was going to take me out of the game. About five minutes after resuming play, our striker delivered a shot towards the bottom right corner. The keeper made a nice save but one of our midfielders scored the winning goal off of the rebound. Our team was struggling that season but we celebrated as if we had won the World Cup. And in an otherwise unfortunate senior year due to the pandemic, I was glad to have at least one positive memory.

At the time, I thought that the easy and comfortable thing to do was leave. But I’m glad I didn’t. My mind wasn’t focused on it but had I left, I would have disappointed so many people including myself. My mind was so consumed by how unfair the situation felt that I was unable to see the bigger picture. I am certain that I will face tougher adversity throughout my life, and now I can use my Senior Night experience as inspiration to face whatever life has in store for me.