Today, I hosted my first discussion event since the creation of this website. This was a big experience for me because I am naturally an introvert, and before the event, I wasn't sure it would succeed. I was worried that people might judge me or not appreciate my opinions. I spent a lot of time thinking about what could go wrong and whether I could answer everyone’s questions well. However, once the event started, I realized most of what I worried about wasn’t as serious as I had imagined. It ended up being much easier and more enjoyable than I expected. No one judged me nearly as harshly as I thought they would, and I became more comfortable as the event went on.
The main focus of this event was to share details on how student-athlete golfers can improve both their academic balance and their performance in the sport. About 12 student golfers attended. Not all were varsity players, but all played regularly throughout the week. About 3 or 4 of them were in middle school, along with about 8 high schoolers. It was supposed to be a lesson or introduction on paper, where the students asked questions about how to improve their game, but in reality it was more like an in-depth discussion, with everyone sharing their perspectives and opinions.
A dozen or so student golfers in middle and high school interviewed me and asked how to better balance sports and academics. In my experience with golf, I spend a large chunk of my time after school playing the sport. For some higher-level athletes, matches can sometimes even take away class time. Because of this, my best advice was to take advantage of free time! Holding all your work until the last minute will not only drop your grades, but also hurt your athletic performance.
One of the most important things in golf is controlling your emotions, at least in my experience. It was also a prominent question that came up in the discussion. From my view, ever since I was younger, whenever I hit a bad shot or got too many strokes on a single hole, I felt an odd sense of helplessness. But only recently did I realize that letting negative emotions affect you often leads to even worse performance, creating an infinite cycle of negativity. Once you know this, take a deep breath. Know that if you let this affect you, you will become trapped in this cycle. You will not be perfect, and just because you put in the work does not mean you will get the results you want. The world is not ideal. If you get disappointed, know that it is completely normal, and don’t let it affect you. Once I fully incorporated this into my life and golf game, both areas became exponentially smoother.
In the end, this experience showed me that sometimes the hardest part of stepping out of a comfort zone wasn’t the cold winds outside it, but crossing the threshold itself. I was nervous because I was focused on everything that could go wrong before actually doing it. While this is a popular sentiment among leaders, I think most neglect to mention one important part of leadership: even while doing it, I was ’t thinking about stepping out of my comfort zone; I was focused on what could go wrong in the next second. And when it was over? I realized everyone was smiling and laughing, and I was too. Overall, hosting this event helped me gain confidence in my ability to communicate with others, share my opinions, and support people going through challenges I can relate to.
Would I consider my first event to be a success? Most definitely! The group shared different insights on balancing golf with academics and other responsibilities, while also discussing the nuances involved in improving at the sport itself. The event achieved its primary goal of giving everyone who attended multiple perspectives and advice they could use to improve, both in the short term and over the long term. Instead of everyone hearing the same advice, the discussion allowed people to hear different experiences and approaches, which made the conversation more meaningful and useful. By the end of the event, everyone seemed happy and satisfied with what they had learned and discussed.
At the same time, I also gained something from the experience. Hosting the event taught me to communicate more effectively, especially when answering questions, explaining my ideas, and making sure listeners could understand and relate to what I was saying. Overall, I believe the event was successful not only because it achieved its purpose for the attendees, but also because it helped me become a better communicator.