The moments of adrenaline make a mark on your brain. Makes you feel alive and builds core memories, and here are my recent adrenaline encounters on account of Intercollege competitions.
Taking chances
There are still 4 days to get back to campus after the Diwali vacation, and I got the information about the badminton selections. Priorly I was aware of it; now I got the date and time. Realizing I couldn’t make it, I asked my junior to suggest alternatives? How could this problem be addressed?
After an initial no and still giving some thought, she shared the student’s sports leader’s number to explain my condition, and he, in turn, directed me to the Incharge sir.
Call with sir
Me: Sir, I am (giving my details) currently away from campus. Please consider me for selection on Monday.
Sir: Okay, yeah, we can.
(Mind voice: Hey, that was easy.)
Sir: Have you ever played in Inter college or Inter University?
(Mind voice: Damm! Will I be rejected as I have not done anything as such? What should I do? Should I lie? )
Mindvoice suggestion: You are considerably good at playing, which he can’t see right now in this call, but you can show your commitment.
Me: No, sir, I haven’t, and I said – But I really want to participate in the selections.
Sir: Okay, come on Monday. I will inform the student in charge about your situation.
Whaaatttttt!
Excitement held me high, but a doubt crept in: Is a chance really given? What if sir forgets to inform?
I was getting ready, forcing all my loved ones to shower best wishes so I could get selected. But the doubt didn’t leave me. Then when I met my Junior asking about the procedure the other day, she mentioned that it was indeed the right move to call sir regarding my issue. He constantly clarified that another student would join in the second round of selections.
Wowwwwww! Now it was a true joy.
Selections time
I understand that I could do well. Since I was under monitoring, and I needed to make points to win – things have changed. From the time I stood in the court and was about to serve the shuttle, my hand became too cold. In that fraction of a second, I even wondered whether my reflexes would kick in.
Then when my opponent returned the shot, my leg moved, and things got back to normal gradually, and I had a great time winning that match.
Here is the situation: On normal practice days, we usually share one side of it or play doubles to compensate for only having a single court for all. Conditioned to that situation, taking a shot served to the end of the court had become a problem to me, and I realized it while playing. My next opponent thoroughly used the area of weakness and won swiftly.
I was okay with the loss. It is not like I am playing blunder shots or losing out of excitement. It is genuinely a lagging area I need to work on.
Let’s see how my final match would be.
Will I make it or not?
When the final game started, I had a great start. Still, soon I had my opponent in the lead by 4 points. That area of weakness played a considerable role in giving away points.
After all these years of watching sports and post-match presentations, one thing I understood was ‘Showing calmness and character while playing is essential no matter how strong your opponent is, no matter how thin your winning chances are. – It’s time to practice my learnings.
Self-talk: I know it’s a tricky area for you, but why are you directly giving away your points. Fight! If not now, when?
Why don’t you take over the service? Then there would be no chance that they can serve that area. With that positive mindset, I entered the game, won the match, and made my place in inter-college competitions.
Game day
8 o clock was the time when the pledge was taken before the start of the game, and at 8:30 am, my period has knocked out.
Not a surprise, though!
My first thought was how are the female players out there are doing it. For me, it was inter-college, and they represent India on a global scale.
Just imagine you have an Olympics final match, and you just got ur period.
Damm right!!
But what will the player do?
Lift that racket, go play and do the best for the country. So, it’s time to get into that zone.
Having been blessed with not-so-intense periods, I thought I could guide my brain to stay positive so the hormones stay under control and I have a great time while playing.
I haven’t shared that I got my period with anyone, as their doubts about me performing could affect my mental state. I also thought: Should I be on the sidelines and allow another teammate to replace me? Am I selfish for not doing it?
But my brain’s strength and no signs of pain persuaded me to go forward, and yes, we won.
Debate Drama
After being done with sports, it’s time for literary competitions. Here also, I have been persuaded to know the timings for selections, and yeah, I did okayish but didn’t expect to get selected.
But sure, I did, and the topic was dropped -“Will NEP 2020 will bring a positive transformation in higher education in India?”
And I did my primary research prepared a draft discussed with fellow mates. My first casual rehearsal took 12 minutes to complete instead of 5, with so many pauses, forgetting in between, and no valid data substantiating the sentences. When I started in front of the incharge sir, 30 sec and I fumbled.
With his pep talk and guidance on how it should be, I changed the entire draft in 3 hrs and got ready for the grand rehearsal.
I panicked and missed a few points, but I went on.
After a series of practices until the competition time, when I walked to the dias representing my college, I just gave the best of the best version.
I was so happy just to think how bad my first draft was, and look where I have come to.
I have indeed lost in the competition.
People always say that ‘when you do your best, it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, and I used to think that as Bullshit! All the people who can’t win will speak those words.
I didn’t have to convince anyone that it was unfair for me to not reward or feel bad for losing. It was just the process of trying to deliver outweighed all the things.
There needs to be a certain maturity to understand a few philosophies. This competition showed me that I have evolved.
Your personality changes according to the environment you live in and the resources you have. I entered my undergrad college with a zeal to express myself to the utmost. I wanted to make tons of friends, bunk classes, go to movies, and hang out at all places near my college.
But lack of mental readiness, and staying away from college didn’t allow me to do certain things. And one that I regret the most is participating in inter-college competitions.
For the sake of memory, I enrolled for drama in 3rd year, for which I got rewarded too. But it was just one shot, so I didn’t get those hardcore connections.
Finally, after getting to my Ph.D., all things are falling into place. Now I stay on the college campus, and, luckily, I got information about the events. Truly happy that I was confident enough to persuade things and finally make things happen for myself.
If not now, WHEN???!!! – Do you agree with this? Comment and let me know
#anushawrites 