Senior Soccer Tribute

This Tuesday, May 25, my daughter will have her final home soccer game. This night comes with mixed emotions. To see how far she has come in the last few years is nothing short of amazing.

Mandy has not played soccer for most of her life. In fact, when her high school season finishes, she will have completed her sixth year of soccer. Unlike most kids who have played since they were five or six, Mandy did not start soccer until she was twelve years old.

Mandy’s soccer journey began in 2012, the summer before she started seventh grade. It started somewhat haphazardly as all the teams were filled up, and no one wanted a player on their team who did not have experience with soccer. Luckily, I knew a coach at church that coached competitively. Although his team was full he agreed to let Mandy come to the team practices so she could learn soccer and develop her skills.

That summer Mandy worked hard. She conditioned with the team, practiced with the team, and conditioned and practiced on her own. She broke her arm at soccer camp that year, and continued to go to practices. As summer came to an end the coach approached Mandy and offered Mandy a spot on the team, but under one-condition—she would need to be in goal for one-half of each game. Mandy hesitantly agreed, not because she was not willing to be a goalkeeper, but because she had no idea what to do. However, her coach set time aside each week, and they practiced, and this was where Mandy became a goalkeeper. It also is where she started her love for goalkeeping. After that season she quit playing field, and went into the goal full-time.

Fast-forward to the summer of 2014, and Mandy is trying out to start her second year at OFC in Omaha. She makes the team, but this year the coach changes up some things. Mandy is going to play field half of the time, and be in goal half of the time. We are right back to where Mandy was when she first started to play. Mandy is excited for the change. It will improve her skills as a keeper. However, this change causes her to speculate if maybe she should play field instead of being a keeper. Then in walks the biggest influence in Mandy’s goalkeeper life—Seb Furness.

I will never forget the first practice Mandy had with Seb. She had been going back and forth about possibly playing field full time, and then she went to the first goalkeeper practice of the season. When I picked her up she was so excited. She had a renewed energy. All she could talk about was how much she loved being a keeper, and how great it was. After that practice, over time, she started to talk to Seb, and share with him her dreams for soccer, and what she would like to achieve. This was huge, because other than me Mandy had never told anyone about her soccer dreams.

Seb guided Mandy to help achieve her dreams. He allowed her to go to extra practices, and push herself to become a better goalkeeper. At times, he had to keep her from pushing herself so hard. Over the next two years Seb worked with Mandy not only as her goalkeeper coach, but also eventually as her team coach. He got her with other coaches in the club, who eventually utilized Mandy on their teams. From this Mandy learned the different coaching styles, but also found that other coaches appreciated her and had confidence in her abilities.

In the Spring of 2016 Seb left the club and the colleges he had been working for in the area to become the assistant coach at Colorado State University. I remember that day well, because I had a daughter who came home in a torrid of tears—those tears continued off and on for several weeks. Mandy did not just lose a coach, but she lost a mentor and someone that had the complete confidence in her that she could fulfill her dreams. That belief and Mandy’s hard work ethic perpetuated her to much bigger things. I often wonder what would have happened had Seb not come into Mandy’s life.

As Mandy’s senior year comes to a close I remember that twelve-year-old who told me she wanted to play soccer. I think of where she was then, all the struggles she has overcome, and how far she has come in such a short time. There will probably be a few tears Tuesday night as an era comes to an end. But in a few short months Mandy will begin playing soccer at the college of her choice. With a new chapter on the horizon, the future looks bright.

Bar Exam - Take Two

It’s late Saturday evening and I start to get a runny nose. At first I do not think anything of it, but as the evening progresses into night it gets worse. By the end of the night I can tell I am getting sick. The timing could not be worse. I am a week and two days away from taking the bar exam, and I have one more week of intense study I need to accomplish. I wake up Sunday so sick that all I want to do is sleep. —fatigue, headache, runny nose. I end up missing church Sunday, which kind of freak’s me out. Going to church is my solace, my reprieve from studying, and a spiritual uplifting.

The week turns out to be a struggle. I am sick all week. I end up sleeping, studying, sleeping each day for an entire week. I fall behind in my studying, not too much, but enough to cause me concern. On Sunday I am still sick, but go to church—sick or not I need spiritual nourishment. Later that evening my home teachers come and give me a blessing and anointing. The blessing was exactly what I needed to help clear my mind and get me through the next few days.

When I wake up the next morning my mind is clear, my head does not hurt, and I feel less fatigued. I can actually think and study without sleeping. Although I am still sick, I am able to focus on one last subject before leaving to take the exam. Later that evening I arrive at my hotel room, and my roommate is already there studying. We catch up on life, and review a few concepts. As we talked I shared this scripture with her “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” (John14:26) This scripture means everything to me. It is why I am writing this today. That night shortly before going to bed I had a thought to look up the business judgment rule (BJR). At some point either that night or in the morning I looked it up, and I memorized it. Just a few hours later I ended up needing it.

For two-days I took the worst exam in the world—for a second time. It was gross, there were things I did not know exactly, but knew a little, and some things I did not know at all. One thing I knew for certain was the BJR. While I took the exam, I was still sick. I had to take cough drops, and blow my nose. However, I was not tired (not until it was over), and I had a clear mind. Things were brought to my conscience that amazed me I could recall. It was like the scripture said the holy ghost brought “things to [my] remembrance.”

I left the exam exhausted, and pretty sure I did not pass. In fact, for about a week if you asked me I would have told you I did not pass. However, this is how we lose our faith and become discouraged, when we lose hope. I did a turnabout, and instead just let others know I do not know how I did, but I am hopeful. Next week the results are supposed to come out. I am still not sure what the results will be, but I am hopeful. Hopeful I passed, and hopeful I can practice law in Nebraska soon.

What if I do not pass? I am currently licensed to practice law in Iowa, and will begin looking for a job there. However, I am eligible to work in seventeen other states, and will look jobs in those states as well. I am not going to retake the bar. I am an attorney now, and I can practice law, which is part of my dream being realized. Pass or fail I know that heavenly father helped me that day, I know he guided me, and I know he brought thing to “my remembrance.” If I did not pass, well . . . it just was not meant to be, because he was there with me every step of the way.

It's Over

I am done studying! No more law school, and no more bar exam. I took the bar this week (Tuesday and Wednesday), and now it's over. I will get the results April 5th. In the interim I have lots of thoughts, and I am hoping that I eventually translate them to the blog. Only time will tell.