Background Influenced Your Participation Mini-Essay, 1200 characters
Tell us about a time when your background influenced your participation
The physical and mental health benefits of playing sports often come to mind, but the many years I spent playing volleyball, particularly my coach’s mantra, “Any given team can win on any given day,” shaped my approach to self-discipline.
Years later, during my rotational program, our class was put into groups and asked to present a product that could be the next big innovation for the company. The day before the presentation, all teams arrived in Philadelphia and planned to do final rehearsals that night; however, some team members wanted to explore the city instead, as they were confident we would come out victorious. I immediately thought of my volleyball coach: “Any given team can win on any given day.” Winning takes discipline, and I was not willing to let lack of preparation cost us months of hard work. Luckily, I was able to convince the team to stay in and rehearse our presentation as planned. We ended up winning the competition and celebrating with a night out in Philadelphia. Although I will never know whether the extra practice was the difference-maker, I can confidently say that I held my team and myself accountable and stuck to the values sports have instilled in me.