First Tournament, Lasting Lessons

What I’ve learned throughout my student-athlete experience is that you will fail. Failure is a natural part of learning, and it is a difficult process that will promote tremendous growth and change.

Our first tournament of the season was the SAS Championships HBCU Invitational hosted at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, North Carolina. This tournament was an amazing experience that taught me lessons on and off the golf course.

My first lesson was the day we flew into North Carolina and made it to the hotel. While waiting in the car for our coach to get our hotel keys, I may or may not have ripped my contact in half in my eye… and go figure I did not pack an extra pair :D

For the first time in my life, I played golf with my glasses on and learned that yes, you always need to pack an extra pair of contacts lol. I will say, it was very different playing with glasses however, I can not make excuses for myself when I indeed know better. (ugh #adultingmoment)

Throughout the tournament, we were fortunate enough to have a panel discussion with monumental figures in the golf world, and pick their brains on how to be the best we can be. It was amazing seeing familiar faces and catching up with PVAMU’s number one supporter, Peter Jacobsen.

The highlight of my time in North Carolina was being able to listen and meet Notah Begay. As a fellow Native American, it is amazing to see someone who looks like me pursue their passion and be an influential success for others to look up to.

I am extremely grateful to be able to meet someone who inspired me and paved a way for Native Americans. Golf is a game that gives back, and Natives deserve the opportunity to experience this amazing sport.

I can’t lie, I did have a fan girl moment when I saw that I got posted on Notah’s Instagram and Twitter. #youlovetoseeit

Representation is so important, especially in a game that was not made for people that look like me. In 2022, as a young woman and a person of color, the golf world has a long way to go to rectify and change the old traditional ways of the game.

This tournament taught me the importance of preparation and how detrimental it is to tracking progression in my game and my life.

Failure. A lot of people are scared of it, but failure leads to more lessons learned than success.

Although I did not play to the standards of what I expected from myself, I had to accept that it is okay. When I step back and analyze myself, I have to understand that I learned a bigger lesson this week and that outweighs the scores that I posted. In the grand scheme of things, we’re here to have fun and I can confidently say that I had a BLAST!

As a fellow hard-headed person, this was an amazing experience that I will forever be thankful for, and the lessons I had to learn were worth it.

I am extremely proud of our lady panther's resilience on and off the course and look forward to the rest of the season with our new head coach, Coach Mesha.

Thank you to the volunteers, SAS, and everyone who paved a way for us student-athletes to enjoy this amazing event.

A verse to leave you with on this great Monday is this…

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

Galatians 6:7-9

As always I love you, but Jesus loves you more!

Have an amazing week.

#indigenouspride