My name is Anagail Hamby and am currently on a seventeen year streak of living. I was born and mostly raised in Texas, until my family and I moved to the beautiful state of Alaska. More specifically, we moved to Prince of Wales Island where there are no malls, movie theaters, bowling alleys, and very few take-out places. To some, this sounds like a horrible place to live. To me, however, those things don’t really matter. I’m not an out-going person: I would rather read a book than go shopping. This place suits me with its peaceful beauty and laid-back atmosphere. Thanks to my tendency to be still, I have never taken to most sports with their throwing and catching and constant running. The exception was archery.
I joined my first archery team two years ago. It was very new to me but in a good way. I didn’t have to run up and down a court, chuck a football, or catch a baseball. I liked it. Here was a sport that played into my strengths while strengthening my weaknesses. At the end of my first season I qualified for Nationals. I choked a bit at the Nationals competition.
This year, my goals, besides the obvious one of going to Nationals again, is to up my mental game. I need to conquer my nerves by both blocking out the intrusive thoughts of failure or what-ifs, and by becoming accustomed to shooting under pressure. These can be done by joining in little competitions against my teammates or even putting stakes against myself such as if I don’t shoot a forty-seven or better in this group, I have to clean toilets, or vacuum the house when I get home. I need to focus my mind more by not talking on the shooting line, or by not getting distracted by random thoughts of to do lists, conversations, or entertainment.
I was raised in Texas but currently live in Alaska where the laid-back atmosphere suits me fine. Alaska is where I first got into archery, and I hope to improve this new skill by working on my mental game.