Beep! Beep! Beep! My alarm blared as I lazily rolled over and looked at my phone. Four thirty, already? I stood up and tossed on a t-shirt and some pants, drowsily crept up the stairs so as not to wake the dog, and scarfed down my four eggs. It was the first day of jv hockey practice. 

As I pulled up to the Mullett Ice Center, I got out of the car and walked into locker room one. We picked our seats, with the freshman choosing last. We went on the ice at 5:15 and had our practice jerseys assigned to us. Some people complained about their linemates, but I just stood there trying to not draw attention to myself. Please don’t be a bad name. These early practices taught me how to be orderly and disciplined, as the thought of being benched due to showing up tardy to practices forced me to either ride the bench or learn to be timely. The importance of discipline under pressure to make split-second decisions at the end of a close game allows me to transcend the limitations of a non-neurotypical brain and achieve my potential. Learning how to focus and push myself through the challenges has always been a struggle, during a hard skate for hockey or trying to max out my bench press, with the support of my coaches and teammates, I have created the foundation for a successful college experience and career.

I used to ask myself Why?… Why do I have this much homework, why do I have four tests on Friday? I have come to the realization that these challenges were not necessarily to teach me concepts, but rather to build mental toughness. Beep! Beep! Beep! Ugh. Not again.