“Hey, Audrey, would you mind stopping by the back patio once you are done with scoring for an interview,” the reporter asks as he abruptly interrupts my walk to the clubhouse after my regionals for the golf team.

These words evoked excitement and horror in me all at the same time. I felt as if I was the main event. Important enough to be talked about, and proud of what I had accomplished. But on the other hand what if I make a fool of myself. What if I say something I would later regret. What if he asks a question and I stumble upon my words? 

I go straight to the patio just as he asked me to earlier with my fear slowly melting away as he introduces himself further. He congratulates me and asks all the questions that I expected him to ask, until the last one. “You are in a tough sectional next week” he stated. “What’s the team’s game plan for taking on the tough competition?”

It was at this moment, I realized that question was tricky, but it got me to think, what really was going to be any different about this next tournament compared to the rest?  This seemingly innocent question can go two ways. I can say that I am going to focus on beating my girls, or I can say that I am just going to play my game and whatever happens happens. I explain the latter to the reporter that “what others do is out of my control, and it is best to focus on myself because I will have control over my own attitude. Nothing about my swing would change. Nothing about my mindset was going to change. Nothing except the course will change and affect me.”

This question was the moment where I realized I had matured from my previous self. If I were to have been asked that exact question my freshman year I would have said that I was going to try and beat the girls I played with from the challenging school, and win individually. My freshman year self was too absorbed into her own personal gain and not that of the team. I only cared how I finished overall and the team was just an afterthought that dragged along. 

I had, over the two years, learned to grow as a teammate to make myself better in group environments. I learned that cannot just do the bare minimum of what’s expected of me because that is never enough. I must do more than that to benefit my team and not just worry about myself. I need to help others, while they help me. 

This interview is a reflection. I understand now, as I talk with the interviewer, the true meaning of a team sport now. I personally am not the team, but I am a large part of the team. The team helps me when I falter, and I help the team when others falter. It’s all for one, and one for all.