My name is Lisa Yancheff. I am currently 22 years old attending CSU San Bernardino to complete my masters in National Security Studies. When I think of what it means to be a team player and to step up as a leader with confidence and enthusiasm, I always think back to my senior year in high school. I went to a small school (about 120 students) in Northern California. When our volleyball season began during my senior year, there were only two seniors, two juniors and the rest were freshman. I can remember the beginning of the season, it was a massive struggle. I was team captain and I was bound and determined to make the best of my senior season. In the very first match of our first game we were completely shut down, 15-0, along with the second match. This was the first game of our season and the tournament we were playing in. After this game I gathered our team up and told them that we didn’t need to win, but we did need to challenge ourselves and prove that we were trying as hard as we can. I told our team that our goal for the tournament was not to win, but to make an effort that in every match we earned one more point than the match before, and to take it one step at a time. We didn’t need to win the game to prove to ourselves that we were winners; I wanted us to make our own realistic goals and feel proud when we achieved them. To everyone’s surprise we succeeded, and as the season went on we improved tremendously, losing only one game in our league, which put us in a tie for first place. I remember how nervous we were in our playoff game, but yet how excited we were when we came out as the league champions! I proved to myself that I am a positive leader and can make a difference, I have never been more proud of myself or my teammates. From that point on I haven’t let anything get the best of me. I pushed myself to finish college with a BS in Criminology in three and a half years at Southern Oregon University, and moved on to my masters without hesitation. I want to work in federal law enforcement and I won’t let anything get in my way! Whenever I get frustrated and feel like there’s a possibility that I could fail I think of this season, my teammates and our hard work. We didn’t give up then, and I won’t give up in the future!!