<p>All critiques are welcome and overall comments. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Prompt: Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?</p>
<p>It was that final ten seconds that shaped my new outlook on life. The most important fight of my entire Taekwondo career was approaching. In a matter of minutes, I could be on the Junior World Championship team competing in Taipei, China, with the letters U, S, and A shimmering below my black belt on my uniform. I breezed through my preliminary fights, beating every one of my opponents. Winning those four matches had entered me into the final round, the one that would determine the “winner” and the “loser.” Next, it’s the final match. We shake hands, and the not-so-friendly duel begins. Kicks, punches, and yells are exchanged. Sweat flies, and the audience cheers. After almost 6 minutes of combat, the countdown begins. The end of the match was approaching. I was in the lead and could sense the sweet smell of success. 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, DING! The buzzer signaled that it was now the end of the match. I glanced at the score and it read 4 points for red and 3 points for blue...I was blue. My opponent had made a determined comeback in the last few seconds and I had lost. The referee then declared my opponent the winner of the match and my dreams were instantly shattered. It was only one point that made the difference between me winning and me losing. I felt as if my countless hours of training and preparation for this moment had gone to waste. Feelings of anger, sadness, and envy overcame me all at once. Although I had expected winning to become a pivoting moment in my life, it was actually the loss that became a life defining moment for me. I was forced to make a decision; to be satisfied with being the second best, or decide that I was going to work even harder than before and learn to make the most from this experience. By losing, I gained so much more than if I had won. Experiencing the agony of a loss just made my passion for the sport that much stronger. At that moment I became aware of my passion for the sport and realized just how much I loved it even after a tough loss. Losing gave me the motivation I needed to get better. Although the bitterness from this loss still lingers over me at times, I turn that disappointment and anger into motivation. That loss taught me more than just taekwondo skills, it gave me the life skill of how to learn. I learned that there is always room for improvement and that there is an abundance of learning that still has to be done, things that I would not know if I had won. Winning does not feel as good unless you have a hard loss on which to base it. Without this loss, I would not be the person I am today. Losing is a part of life and there is no escaping defeat. However, it is possible to turn a loss into a positive lesson and find the light in every dark situation. Overall, I have become a better winner from this defeat.</p>