My sister had been dating this guy for about a year or so and he was a pretty good athlete I would say. He was in football and weightlifting and was pretty decent at both. When they started dating my sister decided to apply for the football manager position. Cause why not, she got to spend more time with him. After football season was over, it was weightlifting season and my sister didn’t have a winter sport, so she thought she would give weightlifting a try. She absolutely loved it. There was never a moment in her day when she did not talk about weightlifting. She pleaded for me to come so I said “Okay, but only today.” I absolutely hated it. I was absolutely terrible and thought everyone was judging me. “I am never going again.” She kept on trying to convince me to keep going cause I “had potential” she said. I had already gone. It wasn't fun. All it was doing was making me sleep-deprived and crabby. 

As the weightlifting season went on my sister kept on getting better and better. I was a very stubborn individual and refused to go to any of her competitions cause I didn’t want anyone coming up to me to try to convince me to get back in the weight room. Looking back now, I feel terrible about not supporting her because she has always been so supportive of me. The first competition that I went to was the State Tournament. I was not looking forward to going and tried to get out of it by trying to work, saying I could stay home with the dogs, but my parents were very persistent and said I was not getting out of going. When I was watching her lift I had no idea how the sport worked. I just sat in a loud and crowded gymnasium, bored out of my mind. After the competition, the whole team decided to go out to eat. I was not looking forward to this because I thought that I would have been out of place. Not only did the parents and coaches try to talk me into joining weightlifting, but some of the best lifters on the team were also saying I should. 

When we got back to the hotel, my parents were trying to pick my brain to see if that was enough to convince me. I still was extremely hesitant. It got to the point where my parents wanted me to join so severely that they said they would buy me all the gear if I joined and if I qualified for state they would give me $500. That definitely was a little extra push and instead of a direct “No.” it became a “Maybe”. After giving the idea some more thought, I asked my sister if she could help me with the form because the last thing I wanted was to show up to weights and look like a fool. I told my parents that I would try to go but only once a week and only on Mondays. They agreed. Apparently not my mom because pretty much at the crack of dawn on Wednesday morning my mom was shaking me awake. I told her I wasn’t going but that didn’t stop her from shoving me out the door. 

The words that got me to consistently go to weights were “See you on Friday?” Those words came from the best coach I have ever had. When I was just getting into weights I was lifting with a girl that was her first year in weights. Then I started to lift heavier than her so I got moved to lift with a different girl. But I kept going up. Finally, I got moved to lift with a girl that I really didn’t know. All I knew was that she was a junior and homeschooled. She and I were at a fairly even weight that we were lifting. But she and I worked so well together. We pushed each other to our limits. If she went up in weight, I went up in weight. If I got a max, she got a max. She and I have become so close over the months that we have been lifting together and  I can almost guarantee that I would not be where I am today if she and I were not paired up on our platform. 

I started training in the off-season and was still very unsure about whether I was going to compete or not. I didn’t know if I was going to be good or not. But with the never-ending support of my team, I decided I was going to compete. My first meet, I surprised everyone and qualified for state. My parents were extremely happy for me but I knew a little bit of them never thought I would so that’s why they made the offer of $500. My second meet came a month later, a month of excruciating and extended training. At that meet I qualified for nationals. Nationals are held in Colorado Springs and I got my family a summer trip there with some of my best friends on the team. My third meet came, and at that meet, I became the only freshman to make it on the “All time Board”. Which is a board of ten names that have lifted the most in our school's history. The next meet was state and that day I became the state champion. 

After that, I became extremely emotional thinking about that one decision that changed my life forever. I am so thankful for my friends, family, and coaches who never stopped being persistent about getting me in the weight room. I can’t wait to see where this sport will take me. I have learned so much in the past year. For example, weightlifting is something I never thought I would have done. Especially since I am so stubborn. I never wanted my parents, siblings, and friends to get away with being right. So don’t be afraid to give something new a try. Even if it means being brought to naught. And after about a year of lifting, I got used to being sleep deprived.