It was Monday night, the 16th of September. Otherwise known as the annual Powderpuff game. Powderpuff is when Junior and Senior girls compete against each other in flag football. It was a chilly day, with a very exciting, pumped up atmosphere. As soon as I got to the High School, a bolt of energy burst through me like the lightening during a storm. This was a new experience, like nothing I’ve ever done. I was nervous, anxious, but mostly excited. I didn’t know how this would turn out, I couldn’t help but think positively about crushing the seniors.

The past week consisted of two hour practices filled with numerous drills, plays, and playing against one another for practice. For being amateurs at Powderpuff, the Junior class was easily getting the hang of how flag football worked. I felt prepared, ready to beat the big talking Seniors.

The Juniors and Seniors strolled into the football practice fields at the high school around 6:00 decked out in neon tights, crazy hair, face paint, and everything over the top. We separated into two grades, warmed up, practiced plays, and at 7:00: it was game time. Erika led the Junior teams huddle by shouting, “We know we want to beat the Seniors! We need to push ourselves to get what we want! So let us pray!” Which was followed by a random girl yelling “Amen!” making us all laugh. All of the Juniors came together after that pep talk and started chanting, “Juniors! Juniors! Juniors!” mixed in with screaming, smiles, and jumping. This got me so pumped, so excited. All this encouragement and spirit made me feel like we had a chance. We could actually beat the Seniors. The game started, and it was on.
The Juniors were killing it, resulting in touchdown after touchdown. Myself, which was unexpected, sacked the quarterback on the second play. This made me feel powerful, in control of the game. I was shocked that I got a flag! I continued to make tackles and hold the offense throughout the game. There was nothing more joyful than hearing my name over the speakers and running back to the sidelines receiving high fives, good jobs, and being told “dude, you’re awesome!” from almost all of my teammates. This feeling of joy is like coming downstairs on Christmas morning and seeing presents under the tree, a winter wonderland outside, and the empty plate where you had placed cookies the night before.
By the third quarter we were dominating the Seniors - something almost unheard of in the history of Powderpuff games. “Let’s go Juniors!” we would chant repeatedly. I continued to pump up our grade by starting chants, and investing every second of mine in the game. There were about four minutes left in the fourth quarter, and everyone knew the Juniors were going to win. “You don’t know we’ll win for sure,” I said. Jack responded with “No, we’re going to win. It’s impossible for them to catch up.” This made me feel indescribable knowing that we won, and there was no way for the Seniors to come back. The final seconds went by and right as I glanced over, the clock ticked down: 0.02, 0.01, 0.00. We did it. I felt ecstatic, similar to the feeling of accomplishing a long term goal. The Juniors cheered. The Juniors roared. True accomplishment.

After the Seniors left the field, the Juniors and myself ran to the end zone and huddled up. Erika led the huddle by breaking it down with claps - first slowly and speeding up. She continued by screaming “Breakdown!” and in return we all responded with “Hit!” We all proceeded to scream “Juniors!” This whole experience created true happiness, happiness compared to knowing you wouldn’t be going home empty handed, but with pride in yourself and your Junior class. I wasn’t happy because we won, I was happy with how our grade came together as a team to push ourselves in a competitive atmosphere to achieve a common goal. Powderpuff made me a person who believes that if I, or the Junior class, put our minds to something it can happen. We believed we could beat the Seniors and that is what we achieved.
From playing Powderpuff, I will continue to use what I have learned. When coming across a difficult task, I will stop and think, “If I put my mind to this, and if I want this bad enough, I can make it happen.” I will be positive, and cheer myself on when needed. If I can make it happen, it will happen.