It was the start of the soccer season my senior year and the talk was about fundraising. The product was basically a coupon card with a ton of local places on it.  We each received a stack of 21 cards. There was a difference in how I looked at them and how my teammates looked at them. Everyone else looked at them like it was just another dumb fundraiser, I looked at them with the essence of possibility and opportunity. The cards were $20 each and the goal was to have each person sell 21 of them before the 2 weeks given was up but there was no limit to how many you could sell. I had the feeling of determination planted in me and I was locked in. I set a personal goal of double that, 42.

As soon as practice was over, I raced to my car with the thought of the most spectacular selling location. I looked back at all my other teammates, sluggishly moving towards the parking lot with little intent. I was going to sell the most. To Bristlecone Pines! boomed the voice in my head as I smacked my car into drive and let off the brake. In mere hours I had sold 16. I went home proud. 

The very next day was a Saturday, no practice, the major intent to sell a lot, but I only had 4 cards to my name. This wasn’t stopping me. I emailed my coach asking if there was any way I could receive more cards without waiting until Monday. I found myself arriving at his house and he handed me 21 more at the front door with a toothy grin and wished me good luck. I sold 18 that day. 

My determination stayed consistent for the entire 2-week period, unfortunately not being able to go out every day and only a few hours at a time, but every time I did, I sold no less than 10. By the time the 2 weeks was up I had sold a total of 72 cards accumulating to $1,440.