Entering high school as a freshman is hard enough. Transferring from a tiny, private school can be debilitating. I entered Riverwood not knowing anyone and eager to experience exciting events that this new school offered. I did my best to fit in. Of course, I went to class. Clubs, football games, and fundraisers began to mark my schedule. But no attempt to fit in can compare to the awkward fall day I signed my friend and me up for a schoolwide, dodgeball game.
A crisp, new flyer pasted to an ancient, cinder block wall grabbed my eye. The wrestling team decided to host a dodgeball tournament. Everyone was invited. “Perfect,” I thought.
How would one have described me? Studious. Fourteen. Tomboy. Short. Athletic? My athleticism extended no further than JV basketball and touch football with friends. But that flyer screamed adventure and, perhaps, a door to belonging at a big, new school.
I corralled my petite, bookish, freshman friend to join me. We signed up to show school spirit and to receive a free t-shirt. Thursday afternoon we paid the required fee, strolled into the gym, and watched our dream of a festive afternoon sink into the abyss. I had wrongly assumed that the tournament truly was an activity for all. Varsity athletes towered over us. Large, agile, and aggressive wrestlers as well as players of football, baseball, and basketball prepared to dominate. The majority of the players were twice my size and at least all a foot taller. My friend and I cowered, two dandelions against a forest of oak trees.
Looking back, I’m not sure why we didn’t leave. My stubborn personality prohibited me from fleeing the gym in terror. I quaked inside, but tenacity won the day. The organizers placed us on the coaches’ team, and we suffered two traumatic losses. Nonetheless, I didn’t give up, and managed to hit one senior out of the game, a moment that I still remember four years later.
I wear that t-shirt with pride.