I bolted into my mom’s bedroom crying. I was 13 years old, first experiencing the volatility that is being a teenager. I also faced my first encounter with a mean girl. My teammate Emily and I were having a conversation on AOL instant messenger, which was...
You make a massive mistake in competition. The last feelings you feel are strength and dignity. Instead, you feel frustration. You feel chaos and stress. That's not how it was supposed to go...
Comparison doesn’t have to be crippling. You also don’t have to succumb to Theodore Roosevelt’s idea that comparison is “the thief of joy.” It can be, in some sense, when you look around and see everyone else crushing it, running faster, scoring more goals, and getting more...
I got cut from the all-state Maryland soccer team when I was 14-years-old. Even though I made the squad and also proved myself as a regional selection the year before, things didn't go my way this time around . I got cut. At first, I thought I...
Self discipline sets you free. This quote is an inherent contradiction. The word discipline means "obey a set of rules," while the word free means "no longer confined." How can discipline, an act of structure and routine, also be liberating and carefree at the same time? How can...
Never have I felt so radiant, so alive, so overjoyed, and so vibrant in my entire life. Welcome to me being 32-years-old. It's downright exhilarating. If someone were to tell me a decade ago I would feel at my prime on my 32nd birthday, I would've told...
Chasing perfectionism is a losing game. It leaves young female athletes feeling defeated and flat, and it's a pursuit that becomes an unending cycle of frustration. You see, striving to be perfect goes against the human condition as well as the nature of life. It's hard...
Just like food, social media is consumption. The liking, the scrolling, the clicking, the commenting all impact your internal state as much as the foods you eat. But instead of impacting your digestive system, social media impacts your nervous system. First things first: when I started writing back...
We all know the girl who grinds the hardest, yet has endless anxiety. We all know the girl who is fastest in practice, yet chokes come game time. We all know the girl who is strongest in the gym, yet still suffers injuries. We all know the girl...
I’ve been having a lot of deep thoughts about my values over the past several months, and wondering what truly matters amidst all of the craziness in the world. What I’ve noticed is no matter what goes on, my life values stay the same - never...