Dear SWOSU Freshman Hailey Tucker,
I wish that time travel were a thing. If I could, I would travel back in time to tell you all the things that I know now.
There are so many things I would love to tell you. I would say to you to stop wishing you were where I am now. I would tell you to live more in the moment, that time goes by too fast, and you will someday want to be back in your freshman shoes at SWOSU.
Eye-Opener
I’m not going to lie, freshman year at is going to be an eye-opener for you. You have to push yourself harder than you ever thought you would. It’s not easy. Your first day of pre-season will be the absolute worst day of your life. You think you can’t make it, but trust me. You get through three more years of it, and you’re still alive.
Those coaches of yours? They love you with absolutely every piece of themselves. You’ll end up thinking you’re one of their own. When they yell at you, it’s because they want the very best from you and they know what you’re capable of. Enjoy every moment you have with them because your time with your “second moms” will eventually have to come to an end.
Best Days Of Your Life
Don’t sweat the small stuff. You miss shots… big shots. You make mistakes. You’ll think about the misses and mistakes entirely too much. But, you end up doing extraordinary things with your career. You end up being an All-American. You end up etching your name in record books. You end up being a two-time Great American Conference regular season champion.
I know coming into your freshman year you didn’t know what to expect. What I can tell you now is that you are truly living the best days of your life. Coach Musick will say that to you a lot over the next three years, but you won’t realize how right she is until you get to be where I am. Hailey Tucker at SWOSU, you will meet your best friends. Enjoy every moment you have with them, especially the bus rides, the hotel rooms and the laughs you will have with them. The memories you will make will be unforgettable.
Final Advice
Like I said, there are so many things that I wish I could talk to you about. My final advice would be to stop. Stop and take a breath and enjoy the moment that you are in. Appreciate your coaches and teammates because what you think is a long four years with them turns out to be a lot shorter than you thought. Enjoy the fact that you are blessed enough to play the sport that you love. Because come April 2019, your college career will be over and again, you will want to be back in your freshman shoes.
Enjoy the moment,
Senior Hailey Tucker
