Reflection #1

Identify a person on this campus who has influenced you in a positive way. Think of a specific moment and describe an exchange that illustrates how s/he has has an impact on your life.

One person on campus who influenced me in a positive way is Ms. Dumas. Although she no longer works on campus, she was a counselor my freshman year. Starting freshman year, I did not know anyone new and did not know anything about Lynbrook. With the team, she helped me ease into high school. Although I started field hockey two months prior to tryouts, she believed in me and put me on varsity. I did not expect to make varsity, so this was a huge surprise for me. I did not realize until much later, but Ms. Dumas believing in me and selecting me to be on varsity would change my life and shape my high school life. I joined field hockey because I wanted to play another sport, aside from soccer, in high school. It was not until my first season of field hockey and soccer at Lynbrook when I decided that I wanted to focus more on field hockey than soccer. My first season is memorable because everyone was extremely encouraging and supportive. This impression of field hockey that the school team gave me motivated to continue practicing after the end of the season. Therefore, after my field hockey season, I reached out to Ms. Dumas who encouraged me to continue playing field hockey by signing up for the club field hockey team. After deciding to play school and club field hockey, I was able to find the one hobby which I never grew sick of and became a huge part of me throughout the past four years. It is because Ms. Dumas saw potential in me that I was motivated to continue practicing and improve so much as a player. If it weren’t for her decision to select me for the varsity team, I may never be as good of a player and I am now, and I may not be playing for four more years in college.