Moving to Salida changed my life for the better. Before I moved to Salida I lived in a really small town called Simla. Simla is about an hour east of Colorado Springs where I lived for almost 10 years. This town has about 598 people. My school was K-12 and had close to 200 kids in the whole school. My move to Salida was pretty nerve wracking because I had lived in such a small town where everybody knew everybody. Little did I know that this move to a new town was going to be a great opportunity for me to start over in life and reinvent myself after a dramatic loss in my family.
On the first day of school I was very nervous not knowing anybody and any of the teachers. I was in graphic design when we were going around the room saying our names and grades, that’s where I met Chloe Epperson who was also a new girl. When I first met her I was expecting her to not know anyone as well. As we started talking she told me about this girl named Ruby Bischoff.
Ruby invited Chloe to sit with her and her friend group at lunch, and Chloe invited me to sit with them as well. While we were at lunch I found out that they all play basketball and they told me about a basketball program outside of school since it wasn’t basketball season yet. I ended up joining the program outside of school, which was something I had never done before.
Eventually it was time for the actual season to start. I joined the team but I eventually quit because I did not agree with some of the coaches’ choices. While I was playing I realized that all of the girls on the team were really nice and treated everyone with respect and kindness, which made me want to play more sports. That’s when the idea of playing golf began to creep into my brain.
The golf coach Tami Smith works for my grandma and they are also really close friends. Since I first moved to Salida she has told me that I was going to play golf. I kept saying that I wouldn’t like playing golf. Growing up I was told that golf is an “old people game” and that “only lazy people can play.” I ended up going to one of the practices and Tami was showing me the different clubs and how to swing. After being on the team for a while I ended up really enjoying playing. Needless to say, I was very glad I joined the team and tried something new.
Going out of my comfort zone was definitely scary and nerve racking. If I never went out of my comfort zone I would not have most of the opportunities I have today. I would have never met Chloe or any of my friends I have now, or playing the sports I play now.
