8th Grade Winner

Talia Shulman
Lake Washington Girls Middle School
Seattle, WA
Grade 8

Mali Scott she is not a name that you hear every day, or hear at all. She is not an every day name like Mia Hamm or Sue Bird. But she inspired me to play soccer. She was only six and I was seven. She did not know that by the time I was 13 I would be playing soccer five or six days a week. She did not know that I would have a dream of playing soccer in college. She just wanted a friend to play with her on the soccer team. Why she chose the least athletic, most girly girl in second grade I don’t know all I can tell her now is thank you.

Soccer has given me so much confidence. This season I even helped coach my girls school soccer team with kids my age and younger. I plan on going to Mexico and bringing a small town there girl’s soccer. I just love soccer so much I can’t explain. When I play soccer I get this amazing feeling of warmth inside me. It is like the feeling when you look at a baby for the first time and you see a face of complete innocence. It is the feeling when you are having fun with your friends and you can’t stop laughing. It is the feeling when you are dribbling the soccer ball and the wind rushes through your hair as you rush down the field listening, hearing the crowd cheer, smelling the brisk spring air, the soft air of summer seasoned with nice flowers. Running seeing the goal, the goalie coming out to greet you, shooting hoping the ball goes into the net, turning around and looking at the awe on your teammates faces and finally, finally hearing the swish of the ball going into the net. It is that feeling after a great win when nothing can go wrong. But it is also the feeling when after a tough loss a lone tear leaks out of your eye because it is the feeling of love.

I love soccer and there is no doubt about it. Throughout playing soccer I have had so many coaches helping me and I have put in many hours of work, from hiring a special goalie coach to running around Green Lake with my friends once a week. So many people have inspired me to try harder and keep working, from my first role model Molly, to Mia Hamm, to my home team goalie now playing on the National Team, Hope Solo. Watching and admiring the role models around me gives me one goal. I want to be someone’s role model. When I’m older I want young children to admire me just like I admire every athlete in the world because I know how much work it takes. I will put in the work to make my dream come true, to set girls on the path of becoming young athletes.

Tanisha on Talia's essay:

“What a cute essay, with a great twist. Not too many times do we hear about young people who inspire us. This essay spoke about how a little girl’s friend made such a huge impact on her life. Yes, it’s possible for young children to have those kinds of impacts. As an elementary education student teacher I see things from my third graders everyday. One particular girl is such an amazing friend to absolutely everyone in the classroom and every time I see this little girl befriending another student it makes me smile. I think this is an awesome essay, especially to let the young girl know the difference she made in your life.”