Kayla Ernstmeyer

Narrative Essay

English 4

November 16, 2017

From Moments to Memories

Everyone says to take the time to appreciate the moment that you are living in because before you know it, those moments will be gone and they will only be memories. The time you have left with the people around you is one of the most important values in life. As I have gone through my senior year, I have taken this to heart more and more every day. There was once a time when I had a full tank of energy, bursting at the seams to come to school everyday, but as school has dragged on that interest has highly decreased. I grudgingly pull myself out of bed every day so I can secure my college education as my time at Lincoln Lutheran comes to a close. As a teacher aide for the sixth graders, I have the chance to see the amount of energy we all once had. Those kids move throughout their day, laughing about the PE football game coming up, competing against each other to see who has the most reading minutes, whispering secrets about who likes who, and not worrying about anything else that happens.

During my time in sixth grade, I know that without a doubt it was full of an abundance of awkward moments. The teachers spent the whole first week introducing us to icebreaker games so we could learn more about those who we would most likely be spending the next seven years of our lives with. I still remember first meeting Tath Dak, we were all forced into little groups and as we sat outside in the grass, we had to share facts about our lives. The first words Tath said were a joke, and for some reason I convinced myself that he was the funniest person that I had ever met. I also remember the first time meeting Haleigh Hoefs, she is one of the most outgoing people I know to this day. Whenever I was hanging out with her, she always made a conversation exciting and I wanted to be just as cool as she was. As time passed, we moved our separate ways and are not able to see each other as much as we used to. Those friendships just seemed normal back in middle school, but knowing that I can still occasionally reach out and talk to those people is a comforting feeling. Looking back on those moments, I didn’t realize how precious that time truly was. Time spent learning about those who may not be in your life forever. Those are the days that we all wish we could rewind to, no stress about college or what happens next.

According to the American Psychological Association, school is one of the highest sources of stress for teenagers. Following closely behind that is the decision of what college to attend or deciding on an alternate route to follow after high school. These pressures have an impact on teen’s performances on a daily level. Teens can be more tired and start to put off certain responsibilities. Even managing schoolwork becomes a difficult task. I know personally for me, having that thought of college lingering in the back of my mind can be a trigger at any time. Life could be going genuinely well, but then I remember that I have to “grow up” after I graduate and I usually spend my time in a state of depression after that.

While managing homework becomes more of a challenge for a stressed teen, adding sports to that equation makes it even harder. For me, a typical day consists of sleeping in as long as possible and driving to school, arriving right on time, sitting in stuffy classrooms, cramming information in, waiting for that final bell and then heading to practice. After practice, home is where I crash, and if I’m lucky there is still food on the table, I grab a bite and then settle in to work on homework for the night. Many other teens follow this schedule around the country and know how difficult it is to build any sense of time management. Being an athlete, I have to possess the skill of time management in order to compete. If I fail to keep up my grades, there is no chance of me participating in the currently thriving athletics at Lincoln Lutheran.

Even though sports and the busy schedules that come with them cause stress, being active for those few hours a day can relieve that stress also. Not only is that pressure gone, but the experiences are ones that will last a lifetime.

Typically schools have a parent/senior night and as a player, I never fully appreciated the significance of that until I walked across the floor on my own senior night. While wearing my volleyball uniform and double braids proudly, over the speakers I hear my name and realize that this was it. Our legacy as a team was being left on the school at this single moment in time. Looking up into the crowd was a real eye-opener for how much support our volleyball team gets and quite honestly any other athletic team as well. Often, past teachers, parents of previous students, and alumni all coming back to see how much we’ve developed over the years.

Four years flies by, and I personally feel like I still have more time ahead of me. What our team has accomplished this year will leave an impact on the school, and as a team, we wanted to make sure it is something that people will remember. During the season several people broke records and that aided in our end result being successful. A record of 31-6 and a third-place medal at State isn’t exactly an average season. The reason that a lot of those teachers, parents of past students, and alumni themselves travel back to watch is because they know how much we have changed from our obnoxious little sixth-grade selves bouncing off the walls and they wanted to see it with their own eyes.

The most significant influence on our team’s success was because of how close of relationships we all formed. Our team has been playing together since elementary school, and because of that we are able to trust each other far more than a typical sports team. These are the girls that I have to do endless sets of shuffles with and as teammates we all rely on each other in those times of struggle. We all pushed each other to be better because for us there was an end goal. That state tournament participation. Many of us spent extra hours in the weight room, preparing for that taste of victory. We knew that if we struggled as teammates, we could also win as a team.

So many of us not only put in extra hours but also extra expenses, playing club and taking lessons to perfect all of our skills. Even though it may not have seemed like much at the time, the results were noticeable. Mr. Wagnitz recently approached me and made it a point to tell me how much I have improved over the few years of my high school volleyball career. He said that “[My] energy and excitement towards is something that all athletes should have, so keep working hard because [I am] a great leader out on the court.” It is a special feeling knowing that other people notice and even care about the work I undertake for the sport I love. Looking at where it brought us, I wouldn’t change a single moment. Walking into Pinnacle Bank Arena on the second day of the State Tournament and having Megan whisper to me, “We’re really here” opened my eyes and made the time spent working hard all worth it.

Similar to the time in sixth grade, this time with my teammates would also come to an end and I would have to focus on the “real world.” Through the sports that I play, the friendships that I have made in my time at Lincoln Lutheran are so much deeper than any I have been able to create elsewhere. These relationships that I have built make up the support that I receive on a daily basis.

While athletics and friendships are important in my life, my family plays a more significant role than either of them ever could combined. In high school, it’s easy to feel caught up in all the busyness of life, to feel like there is never enough time in a day. Sitting at the dinner table with my family is one of the few ways slow down that pace and connect with each other about our days. It may not happen all the time because all of us girls take part in various activities and those schedules almost never completely align. However, there was a study recently done called “The Family Dinner Project” that researched how eating dinner as a family can specifically influence children. Those studies found that the children had lower rates of substance abuse, teen pregnancy and depression, as well as higher grade-point averages and self-esteem. Eating dinner as a family might just be a way for us to learn a little more about the day we had, but the benefits progress far deeper than just a simple conversation.

Spending those nights at the dinner table, I realize that there aren’t many left. My time at home is coming to a close, and I have to make sure that I have the strongest relationships with my family members before I move my separate way. The hardest concept for me to take in is how much of an influence I am on my younger sisters. I conform to the thinking that we have all this time left to be a family, but in reality, it is just six short months until I graduate. More recently my dad has made it a point to remind me of this, “You’re a senior this year and all your sisters want to do is spend quality time with you.” Just like in those sixth-grade moment or even competing in the state tournament for volleyball, I don’t realize the importance of a moment while I am in it, I need something to happen or someone to remind me how important it truly is.

I thought I had all this time to figure my life out: what I want to study, where I want to attend, but that was a lie. Deadlines creep up and before you know it, you must have the next ten years of your life planned out. This thought terrifies me the most because what if I make the wrong decision? Will I have any second chances? Deciding where I want to attend college has been a topic that I have avoided talking about just because I refuse to acknowledge that the decision is actually in front of me already. It’s hard for me to face the reality that I have to leave behind the people and the places that shaped me into who I am to find out what my next vocation is.

Thinking about leaving the ones I love behind is what hurts the most. There are so many people that I’ve created relationships with that were so unexpected. Whether that was my awkward sixth-grade self with my buddies in that time, my volleyball teammates, or just my family, all of those relationships have made an impact on me in a different kind of way. One piece of advice that has stuck with me during this time are some words that my aunt shared with me, “God puts people in your life to fulfill three different purposes, they are there for either a reason, a season, or a lifetime.” Knowing this helps me look forward to the relationships that I will make beyond the walls at Lincoln Lutheran, knowing that it doesn’t end here. All of the moments that I have made at Lincoln Lutheran, whether through friends, sports, or even family, are now memories that will last me a lifetime and I know that I have plenty more moments ahead of me in life, just waiting to transform into memories.

Works Cited

American Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, www.apa.org/helpcenter/stress-teens.aspx.

“FAQ.” The Family Dinner Project, thefamilydinnerproject.org/resources/faq/.