On Sunday mornings I play in a regular pickup soccer game. It’s a casual game in which the point is to have fun, run around a bit, and try not to get hurt. That said, we’re a competitive group and the object is to win. At my best I was a mediocre player, and my best is a lot of years behind me. But even by those standards, I had some pretty shambolic moments this past weekend. Passes to either nowhere or the other team, an own-goal, some profoundly bad play.
But I kept at it, kept making runs and shouting for the ball. Ultimately had some good passes, a key block or two, a reasonable shot (that would have been better had my teammate who said he was leaving the ball for me actually committed to that and didn’t just sort of stand there - as I said, a casual game but we can get competitive).
My terrible passes no more define me as a player than my good ones do. The game doesn’t determine how I feel about the rest of the day or week, and it certainly doesn’t define me as a person. Stripped down to its least romantic basics, soccer is a series of tasks done in cooperation with a group of other people to achieve a shared end. One task is just that, a single task that is done and is then gone. None of us is a task or list of tasks. We are not what we do, no matter how well or poorly we may do it.
Letting stuff roll off your back isn’t always easy. Pressure in SMPA can get intense. And many of you may have sudden, unexpected financial challenges. GW and SMPA are here to help. GW has a long list of resources for everything from mental health, to fitness, to a campus store for those facing food insecurity. Those of you in a financial pinch for whatever reason - government layoffs, the shutdown, an unexpected expense, whatever - can apply to the Cokie and Steve Roberts Students Support Fund.
I can roll with my poor play because the stakes couldn’t be lower and my teammates are supportive. The stakes can feel high in SMPA, and a broken laptop or family emergency aren’t the kind of things you shrug off. Roll when you can, and ask for help when you can’t.