Time felt like it was moving like molasses in the winter. We slowly moved from elementary to middle school division. Females then the males. Then that fateful moment came. He announced the scores then the name. I didn’t hear my score so I didn’t completely pay attention. Then I heard something that brought me back to full awareness of my surroundings. What I heard would change my life forever.
Headphones in, listening to music to settle the nervous that always awaken on days of tournaments. Even though I have been shooting in competitions for three years now, every time we compete I get worried and shaky. I guess it's just from having hundreds of eyes trained on you, waiting for you to make a mistake. My parents learned to really not talk to me before hand. I watch the landscape pass by periodically.
When I open my eyes, we have reached the tournament. The sound of snow crunching under the tires was heard all round me from people leaving and coming. I get out of the car and could almost feel Jack Frost taking my breath away. As I reach into the trunk of car to retrieve my bow, my breath was returned to me. I held my bow in my right hand and walked few steps behind my parents, hearing their steps in rhythm as they walked and discussed different topics.
We reach the doors to the school and open them. The heat was a wave of joy and relief. Crowds of people were trying to walk thur the hallways, some trying to leave and some, like us, just arriving. We walk to the gym where our team has its own spot to have our bows. We brush up against people the whole way. When we reach our destination, I crouch down and set my bow next to the others who were already their. We run into other shooters from out group. My parents start talking to them. I join the conversation. We talk about the weather and the drive up. Then I feel a pair of hands on my shoulders, I don’t jump but just turn round to see who it it.
“You ready for the tournament today?” It was one of my coaches, John Love.
“Not really.” I reply.
“You’ve shot in how many tournaments and still get nervous?”
“Yeah, it's really weird and I don’t want repeat of last year.” Last year I had bad score and had little melt down in front of my two coaches John Love and John Medina. I didn’t want that to happen again this year.
“Just remember, no matter what happens, after you  let an arrow go you can’t control it. You have to just forget about it if it's a bad arrow. Regroup and shoot again.” Helpful advice from an experienced coach.
After we talked for while, me and family went upstairs to see what booths and sponsors were here this year. We watch as little kids run around and chase each other playing tag. As we scan the different booths, I found a pair of arrow earrings and rings that catch my eye. I study the design with great enthusiasm and excitement. My dad comes up behind me and asks if I would like them. I shake my head like a little kid to excited to speak. I pick out silver arrow earrings, a gold arrow bracelet and an arrow ring with diamond like stones that represent the birth month of April, which is when I was born. I put them on right away for good luck.
After we pursue the rest of the booths we go and stand in the line for t-shirts before the line grows any longer. I examine the shirts to make a decision. I keep hearing the sound of the steaming machine making another shirt. Everytime I hear it I know I’m getting closer to getting my shirt. Finally we are next. I get the dri fit shirt with hexagon pattern on it. When I receive the shirt, I let the warmth overtake me and soak it in. We walk back down to where our belongings are. I avoid looking at the standing because it just makes me even more nervous, I found that if I don’t think much, that's when I do best, hence the listening to music.
We scan the stands to find place for my mom to sit. We run into a friend of mine who takes incredible pictures. Her and I get to talking and then my sister shows up with her husband and we all start talking. They have a secret and won’t tell me it. I found out a couple weeks later that I was going to be an auntie. This explained a lot but I wasn’t really thinking of anything like that at the moment, for one I had tournament making me nervous and two she told us she wasn’t planning on having kids for around 5 years.
The time came for my flight. I go and get my bow and arrows. I talk with others in the flight with me. We are the last flight. I prefer being in the last flight, I’m not really sure why, I guess it just feels like less stress. We all line up and wait till the last flight clears out so we can go get our stuff set up. I’m pretty close to other New Prague kids so we can talk in between shooting and scoring. This helps calm my nerves. The announcer starts talking about the rules, I’ve heard them to many times so I zone out and try to settle the nerves I feel rising inside of me. The first round is always the most nerve wracking, after the first few shots they go away. My hands are always cold but somehow they are always sweaty when I shoot.
When the whistle blows the sound of hundreds of arrows hitting targets sounds like lightning on a summer night. It’s a calming sound to me. I love thunderstorms and archery itself is a way to forget about anything bad going on. I forget about the guy who broke my heart in the worst way possible. I forget about drama at school and how much homework I have. It’s just me and the arrow with the target. Feeling the string tighten on my fingers, my back muscles tighten to hold back the weight and steady it as I aim. Everything else fades away. And when I let my arrow fly, I am. able to chose my path, to move on and become stronger after everything.
After we shoot, we all gather and talk about our mistakes and what scores we got. We see lot of people crying because they didn’t get the score they wanted. I was able to get my personal record of 293 out of 300 points. Everyone is saying that I’ll win state with that score. I’m sceptical because I know the girl who won last year, also from NP, had a score of 294 or better. I clear the thought out of my head because I didn’t want to get hopes up just to have them shot down again. We all sit around and are talking about our scores and just about random stuff. Our team is very pretty tight and we all joke around with each other and with the coaches. That's why I love this sport, no matter who you are and what your background is, you are part of the team, even if you're one of the lowest shooters, we celebrate your best day and help you on your worst days. True sportsmanship and teamwork.
Waiting is the worse part of the tournament, not only waiting for the scores to be put in but also the wait to hear how well you did. The announcement came on that the scores were in. We all gather in a group by our teams.They start with elementary girls division. Two of our girls were in the top five. Then elementary boys, one of ours was in the top 5. Then they move to the middle school and do the same order. They say the score and then the name of the person. We all clap no matter who it is.Time felt like it was moving like molasses in the winter. We slowly moved from elementary to middle school division. Females then the males. Then that fateful moment came. He announced the scores then the name. I didn’t hear my score so I didn’t completely pay attention. Then I heard something that brought me back to full awareness of my surroundings. What I heard would change my life forever. We finally reach high school girls division. Then it hits me. Before I know it. “ And this year’s state champion for female high school division with a score of 293 from New Prague is… Allison Shorter!” My heart stopped for a second then picked up speed again. I did it! I did it! I overcame everything and became the state champion. I proved to myself that for once, I wasn’t just another name, I did something great. As I walk to receive my medal, joy and disbelieve fill me. I walk up the targets to stand by my other competitors, my biggest fear was tripping and falling, and of course I did trip and everyone started laughing, including myself.
The next moments are just a blur from receiving a bow to taking pictures with the team as we take 3rd place. Everyone congratulates me on my accomplishments. None of them realize I accomplished more than just winning state. I overcame the people who said I couldn’t, the ones who had hurt me in some way. Realizing I had the choice to stay back and let their criticism consume me or stand up and chose my own path..  It’s just like John Love said, “Once you shoot an arrow, you can’t take it back, you have to let it go and forget about it and do better.”
After that day I started to realize I could do things I never thought I could do. I may have wanted my ex there when we were in relationship to help me accomplish the goal, but after we broke up I realized I could somethings on my own.  I was done letting things hold me back. I let my arrow fly and chose my path according to what I wanted, not what others said. It may not always be easy or straight, but if you truly want something you’ll be able to fight for it with all your might.