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Jordan Hobbs

Prof. Hellmers

English 1101

9 September 2019

The Day my Life Changed Forever

Imagine the first thing that you ever dreamed of achieving. Maybe the dream was

to be an astronaut or a professional athlete. Many people grow up and realize that the

dream they had when they were young, is very unlikely. I felt that my dream would

never come true, that is, until last year. The earliest dream that I can remember having

was playing college basketball. Playing in front of hundreds of people, receiving so

much gear, and getting my college paid for. However, if you look at the numbers, they

are highly against someone who wants to attain this dream. Less than 2% of high

school athletes go on to play their sport at a Division I school. I would look at these

numbers and get so discouraged, thinking that it was impossible to reach my ultimate

dream. I never thought that I would be good enough to play basketball at such a high

level. I had no confidence and it was very disappointing. It was, even more, defeating

because all of my teammates had received offers from other schools. I found myself

getting very discouraged and thinking that I wasn’t good enough. These thoughts

impacted me on the court and in the classroom because I put so much pressure on

myself to perform well.

However, everything changed on September 8, 2018. A few weeks prior, in

August, Marshall University invited me to come down to their school for an unofficial

visit. I excitedly accepted the invitation, and the date was set. At this point in my life, I
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lost my passion for basketball and I had forgotten about my dream. The little girl that

imagined running out on the court to people chanting her name was gone. As the days

passed, and the visit soon approached, I asked my mom,” Do you think they might offer

me a scholarship when we go?” My mom responded,” No I don’t think they will yet, but

they might in the future.” This response led me to believe that there wasn’t a chance

that I would be receiving an offer.

The day had arrived and my mom and I left our house at noon so we could arrive

at the campus around 3:00 in the afternoon. Upon our arrival, we walked into the

basketball arena and greeted all of the coaches. They were super friendly and very

easy to talk to. We then sat in their office and talked about basketball and school. The

itinerary had us going on a tour around campus at 3:30. We began to leave the office

and get into a golf cart. I remember thinking,” This is so cool! I am so lucky to be in this

position right now.” I was very excited for the rest of the day and I couldn’t wait to go to

the football game.

As we arrived back to the basketball arena, we prepared to go to the football

game. Marshall is a huge college town and they take their sports very seriously. It was

the first home game of the season so the stadium was packed. People were tailgating

all around the campus and the atmosphere for the game was super exciting. We

approached the stadium and when we entered, we made our way down to the field. We

watched the football team warm-up and I vividly remember the players being massive. I

turned to my mom and said,” Oh my gosh! These players are massive!” It was so

surreal to be on the field of a Division I football team. After the football game we headed

up into the stands and watched the first half.

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Sadly, it began to rain so we had to go to a restaurant down the street. This was

the best part of the whole day. We sat in a back room and had the football game on the

TV. The waitress came around and asked us for our order and I remember ordering a

chicken sandwich with fries. I didn’t want to order anything unhealthy but I also wasn’t in

the mood for a salad. The food took ages to come out and everyone was starving. I

overheard one of the coaches whisper to another,” We need to offer her.” I didn’t think

about it that much because I thought I had misheard her and I didn’t want to get my

hopes up. The food came out and everyone ate it within 10 minutes because everyone

was so hungry. Our waitress came out with something in her hand but I didn’t pay much

attention to it. I then heard voices singing “Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to

you…” I was so embarrassed and I could feel my face getting red.

After I ate the cake, the head coach handed me a napkin folded nicely into 4

sections. So many thoughts were going through my head, “ Do I have something on my

face? What the heck did he hand me this napkin for? Is there something on the

napkin?” I slowly unfolded it and began to read what he wrote. The napkin said,” We

would like to offer you a scholarship to Marshall University!” It was signed and dated

09.08.18. My mouth dropped and I stayed silent for what seemed like an hour. I was in

complete shock. I was speechless and I had no idea what to say. I showed my mom

and she couldn’t believe what had just happened. We were both completely ecstatic. I

was so thankful that I had been given this opportunity and I remember thinking about

how much harder I was going to work.

After dinner, the coaches walked us back to our car and we said our goodbyes.

On the way home, my mom and I could not stop talking about it and freaking out! We
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were so appalled. We began to call all of our friends and family. Everyone we knew was

so happy for me and they were all super proud. All of my hard work had been leading

up to that very moment and it was worth every drop of sweat, every tear, and every

second spent in the gym and the classroom. I would not trade that day for anything and

it was easily the best day of my life.

This scholarship offer boosted my confidence and it helped me to believe in

myself. I no longer questioned if I was good enough or not. I now knew that nobody

could stop me from achieving my dreams. This event made me want to work harder so I

could achieve anything that I wanted. It also pushed me to work harder in school

because I wanted to be the best version of myself that I could be and school is a very

important aspect of my life. Now, just a year later, I have about 6 offers and I am not

planning on stopping here. I want to work harder every day and push myself to be great.

I am never satisfied with what I have achieved and I want to continue working on the

court and in the classroom.