Set Your Eyes on the Target

by Aina Alesha bt. Abdul Aziz

Every time before I begin to shoot my arrow towards the target, I tell myself, “Keep your head in the game!” On the 22 July 2019, I represented Kolej Yayasan Saad at the Kejohanan Sukan Memanah Majlis Sukan Sekolah Melaka that was held at SMK Datuk Bendahara, Jasin. This tournament was very important to me as it determined whether I would be selected for the national level (MSSM) competition. My heart could not stop pounding during the qualifying round because it was really intense. It proved that I could achieve the target that I had set when I was 11 years old. Truly, it felt like there were a million butterflies in my stomach when I saw my opponents because they looked competitive and seemed highly-trained, but then I remembered that a wise man once told me, “Don’t look at what others can do, instead look at what you can do!” 

Based on my personal experience, I believe that archery trains me to become friendly, respectful and maintain a professional relationship with my opponents. Furthermore, it makes me more disciplined and focused before a match. Apart from that, I now know that we should always understand other people’s emotions. Hence, it teaches me to control my emotions or feelings whether good or bad, for example, I can’t be over-confident or lose confidence to win archery competitions. In order to win archery tournaments, it is compulsory for me to set my own goal. For the national level, I wish to make my family and coaches proud, not to mention that I really hope I can get medals and placings for my beloved school, Kolej Yayasan Saad Melaka. 

Lastly, without the support from my family, teachers especially Ms Lau and my friends, I’m pretty sure that I couldn’t achieve the national level dream. Last but not least, I wish to thank my archery teammates Alia, Azri, Haridz, Akif, Umar and Alif. To conclude, playing archery as a sport has all-in-all made me a better student in many ways that can improve my future.