Dreams Come True In sixth grade I remember when Mrs. Applewood made us write down a goal we wanted to achieve. I quickly placed my newly sharpened #2 pencil on the blank sheet of paper and wrote five simple words: Be a state champion. As a child I had many wishes and dreams. I wanted my dad to coach my sixth grade team, I wanted to win a state championship, and I dreamed of playing college basketball somewhere. I was 12 years old when my father, Sean, coached me and six other determined and dedicated girls to a Little League National Championship. I was 17 when I played for my first state championship at Wells Fargo Arena. We lost, but here I am a year later playing in another Iowa 4A championship. Everything from the hot dogs smothered in ketchup to the aroma of freshly blended strawberry smoothies smelled familiar. Even the squeak of my shoes on the freshly waxed floor felt all too familiar. Unfortunately, I also felt the familiarity of us losing once again in the championship game. We were down two points with fifteen seconds left in the fourth quarter when Coach Carley called a time-out. He drafted a play on his blank notes. To most people the small x's representing my coach's players wouldn't make any sense, but to me, Danielle Johnston, I knew exactly what those x's meant and I knew exactly what I needed to do. When I looked up at the red and yellow time bomb, I saw five seconds and knew I had to score. I took two dribbles to the left, made a header and then took one last dribble past defender Carroll's bright orange shirt. As I planted my charcoal black Jordans right in front of the three-point arc, I was determined to win the game… half of the card… poured out of my pained eyes. They didn't stop coming out of my eyes until the coach came into my room with the ball I played with during the national championship. He said the team voted and they thought I deserved the ball. He passed me the ball along with something else. It was a letter from the Los Angeles Sparks, a WNBA team. Inside was a letter similar to the one I opened a year ago. They wanted me to play for their team and I wanted to play for them too. There was only one problem; I could never play again. As time goes by, I think back to the years I played basketball and smile. I smile, because I know I scored two of my three goals. I achieved 66.7% of my goals. In basketball if you shoot 66.7% you played a pretty good game. So I would say I've had a pretty good career in basketball and I'm excited to turn the page and open a new chapter in my life.