For the majority of my childhood, I lived in Colorado. I grew up bowling. I grew up and bowled with the same people for 10 years. These were my friends, my family.

At the age of 10, I moved to Texas. This caused me to branch out and find a new group of people. These would be the ones I finished growing up with, the ones that helped me become who I am. These would be the people that would help me through the most difficult stages of my life, and also when I needed friends to finish growing up with.

The scariest part was that I would have to get to know new people. And as scary as it was, it was also one of the best things to have happened to me.

Yes, it was sad to move away from all my friends, who I'd grown up with, but moving helped me understand my true friends. When I moved, the first group of people I met were the bowlers in just my city, the small city of which i finished growing up in. This group of people became the people to pick me up when I needed someone the most and the people who would support me through it all.

It wasn't always the easiest thing for me to make friends. I used to come off with the wrong attitude, but in reality I was scared to meet new people and to make new friends, because I didn't want to have to leave again. As I became more involved in competitive bowling and started to travel the state for more tournaments and things I became more open to meeting new people.

5 years later, I had the best group of people to call my friends. I didn't really have friends at school, but I had more friends through the bowling world.My best friends don't even live in the same city as me, one not in the same state but I couldn't be any happier with who I have. I've met other bowlers from other states, and still stay in touch with them and to plan to intend to stop now with just te group of friends I have now. I intend to make many more new friends through collegiate bowling, and hopefully one day through the professional level.

I can't even begin to think what my life would be like without bowling. I know, I still have friends from school and through the other sports I have played, but bowling gave me the chance to connect with people who have the same main interest as me. We all have the same common goal and we all believe bowling is a sport. But, I was wrong about what I said before. Because of bowling, I haven't made friends, I've gained family.