Tuesday, June 25, 2013
This summer, I have had the privilege of working at Gordon Food Service for my internship. While this has been an extreme blessing in my life, there have been some drawbacks. As some of you may know, I was really excited about going to Zambia this summer, which was probably my last opportunity to go on a mission trip in college. With about half my funds raised, I was faced with the dreaded decision of choosing between taking an incredible job or traveling to Zambia. The right choice was obvious but that did not help me in my decision making process. What hurt even more was that I had this set in stone since freshman year that I would go on a short term trip this past semester. As I approach my final semester at CU, I feel that time is running out, and opportunities like this are no longer a possibility.
A good takeaway I have learned from this experience is to take advantage of every opportunity presented to you. You can’t always wait for the perfect time to make your decision; the time to act is now. This correlates directly with our situation as a team this coming preseason. Especially for the freshman, don’t be afraid to step into a vacant role in our squad. Everyone brings something to the table, and if we are all willing to do our part, we can accomplish great things. To the underclassmen, 1 Timothy 4:12 gives great advice on how you should not allow others to look down on you because of your youth. I think Mark Rougas is an excellent example of this, and I greatly respect him for it. As a freshman, Mark filled a much needed role on our team as an outside back. He was the last piece to the puzzle which made our team such a well-oiled machine. Without his willingness to step forward, the result of our program could have been a much different story.
Moving forward, this preseason will be the true test of who is ready to step forward as Mark has done and fill the shoes which last year’s seniors have left for us. This will be a fitting test to reveal our team’s genuine character, for it is when we face adversity that our true colors will show. Because we have lost a number of impact players, others believe we are doomed to fail. They want nothing more than to embarrass us and will do anything to stop us from getting another WHAC Championship. This mentality of our competition should be a driving force for us. We have the tools at our disposal to prove them wrong. One tool we should utilize is to come into camp the fittest team in the WHAC; this is my personal goal. We all know this preseason is going to be a gut-check, so let’s make this off-season count. Together, we have the ability to shape Cornerstone’s soccer program, so let’s make it a season no one can forget.
