Have you ever had to overcome an extreme challenge in your life?

My teenage years had been insane. From schoolwork to athletics, I had always been running around. Everything was so difficult.

Throughout my hectic teenage years I have been faced with many extreme challenges that have required extreme focus and hard work to overcome. If it wasn't for hard work, none of these challenges that I faced would have been conquered.

Two years ago, when I was a freshmen in highschool, I dealt with an extremely significant injury. This took place in my tennis tournament in the month of January. In the climax of my match, I jolted my back to the left and soon after felt a sharp, painful shock run through my spine. I knew at that difficult moment I seriously injured my back. I was rushed off the court and my parents made an appointment at the orthopedist for the next morning.

I walked into the office extremely nervous and suffering from excruciating pain. My tennis season for school started in three months and I absolutely needed to be healthy.

After about twenty minutes of waiting in the office, which felt like an eternity, the doctor walked in to examine my x-rays. With a sorrowful face, the doctor looked into mine and my mother’s eyes and said, “There is a 50/50 chance that Lucas will be able to participate in this year’s tennis tennis season. Lucas broke his L5 vertebrae in his lower back.” My heart dropped and I felt a sadness come over me. The doctor said that I would be sitting out of physical activity for two and a half to three months.

Those three months were the longest three months of my life. I was so eager to get back to playing tennis and preparing for the season. Everyday, I would think about how it was going to be when I was fully healthy. I asked to myself: Am I going to be out of shape? Should I even play this year? I probably won’t have a successful season, right?

From that dreadful day on, I decided that I was going to put in the work to be back in top form and have a successful season.

After I got the “all clear” from my orthopedist I was going to get to work. Practices were going to start in two weeks and I was determined to get back on the court. My remedy for success was to play and workout everyday before and during the season. I played everyday for two hours leading up to the season, and after practices I would hit the gym and try to build up the strength that I had prior to the injury.

My hard work proved to be very effective. I had the most successful season of my career. I made it to the finals of Sections. Although I truly wanted to win, I knew that it was a great accomplishment for me to even be in that position in the first place. On top of that, I also made it so states and got to the round of 16.

The injury was almost a good thing because I proved to myself that I am capable of achieving goals that I strive for, through hard work of course. That freshman year season was by far the most rewarding season of my career. I felt so accomplished at the end of the season.

Hard work ALWAYS pays off.