FINDING WAYS TO FIND MYSELF Andrew Oostdyk

Keys to Finding My Identity ■- Establishing what motivates me ■- Experiences through my motivation ■- Evaluation of experiences ■- Understanding lessons learned ■- Forming a purpose for my life based on lessons and morals learned ■- Applying what I have learned to all areas of my life and gaining knowledge of what makes up my character

Passions and Motivations ■ Sports (Football, Baseball, etc.) Benefactors of participating in team sports ■- Working with others toward a common goal has provided a sacrifice of self- interest and unselfishness ■- Gaining depth in experiences through challenges ■- Establishing a will to work through challenges to achieve goals ■- Learning to stay motivated and focused through both hard and easy times ■- Working through challenges and gaining a sense of triumph individually as well as with others ■- Triumphing and establishing a determination and dedication to achieving goals in other areas of life

Experiences ■Positive and Negative in sports, translates to Winning and Losing in both personal and team areas Learning from winning ■- Experiencing an successful result of the work put in ■- Gaining an understanding of what it takes to experience winning ■- Building a work ethic and a consistent routine to guide myself toward success Learning from losing ■- Handling the disappointment of a negative outcome ■- Fighting discouragement and continuing successful habits ■- Gaining perspective and finding my will to experience success VS.

My Experience ■Injury = a barrier between myself and pursuing success and experiences within my passion ■Overcoming injury and the challenges presented ■- Handling and working through pain, both physical and emotional ■- Maintaining my will to succeed with an additional challenge ■- Fighting through adversity and learning to thrive in adversity – applies to all areas of life and has provided myself with knowledge backed by experience to overcome presented adversity

What I Learned About Myself ■My Experience helped establish the tools and qualities that apply to my life every day. ■- My desire to compete with others toward a common goal ■- My desire to be apart of something bigger than myself ■- Learning the aspects of challenge and how to overcome adversity ■- Established my determination to achieve success in something that gives me pride ■- Provided a moment of growth and development of my character to build on ■- Gave me perspective on what I want, my will to achieve what I want, and the length I would go to achieve it ■- Helped me define a part of my character, allowing me to develop and seek the clearest form of my identity