Inspirational Speech Have you ever had that person that was a role model in your eyes? That person that you thought “wow i want to be just like them". I want to have their powers and there drive. Their motivation and their strive. That person who shoots for the stars and isn’t afraid of failure. That person who stands up for what they believe in & when things get tough they fight through it. That person who encourages others to be the best they can be. All these qualities fits the person that in my eyes is a perfect role model. Graham Marchman. She has inspired me to be the best that I can be. Graham is the daughter of Beth and Frank Marchman as many of you already know. She went to heritage most of her life. Has 2 brothers Alden and Ben who also went to Heritage. She played many sports here. You could call her a natural athlete. Whatever she tried she was amazing at it. One amazing quality that G raham had was her leadership on and off the playing field. She put others before herself. Graham has just fini shed up her 4th year at Furman where she played soccer and studied pre med As a young child growing up in the Heritage Family Graham was my role model. I wanted to be her. She was an amazing soccer player which was my favorite sport I would always ask to come and watch the Varsity games just to see her play. When I would pass her during the school days I would always try to be cool around her and my day would be complete when she would say Hey to me. Having a high school student talking to me?!? Wow I felt honored. She inspired me as a young middle schooler to be the best i could be. I wanted to follow right in her footsteps. Play soccer at the college level. It was a dream of mine that I’ve always had. And to have someone to watch made me realize it could b e done. Graham said loved being in the heritage family she said. The thing I enjoyed most about Heritage were the people. Whether size played a role in getting to know everyone or not, the people at Heritage made my education worth while. Being a ble to go to the same school as my brothers and as my dad was such a blessing to me. I always thought it was so cool being a 1st grader and having a freshman say hey to me ( I felt so cool ). The teachers took a genuine interest in who you were, where you came from, what you were like, and how best they could teach you. She started playing soccer when she was 3 years old. As a young child the first person she could remember that she looked up to was Pele and Julie Foudy. ( which are both soccer players). G raham never considered playing soccer at the college level till U - 14's she said i started thinking about it and it sounded like it would be something i enjoyed and it would be fun! Graham was recruited by Furman along with other schools. When She went to Furman to visit She fell in love with the girls on the team. She wanted to go to a school where she would get playing time, be challenged academically, and if ever anything happened where she couldn't play soccer...she would still love being there. Durin g her four years of playing college soccer her favorite place that she traveled was to LSU where they play and ended up winning the tournament. One thing that ive always wondered about was HOW ON EARTH AM I GOING TO MANAGE MY TIME IN COLLEGE??? Graham qui ckly made me realize that its not that hard. She said "The toughest challenge being a college athlete surprisingly is not time management....I have been dealing with soccer and schoolwork for as long as I can remember and college is no different. Time mana gement is something any soccer player grows up learning naturally. I think the toughest challenge as a collegiate athlete is breaking out of the athlete shell and not only having an athlete reputation...meeting other college kids and participating in other activities (which I've done)" I asked graham was her greatest accomplishement was and she said. "My greatest accomplishment thus far would probably be never forgetting where I came from and realizing how blessed I have been" Graham is vey close wit h her family during high school and still is today. Which is an amazing trait to have. One of my favorite parts of life is bible verses and quotes. So of course i asked Graham if she had some favorites and she started of saying OH YESS i love quotes. So he re are some .... "Nothing circumstantial has the right to steal our delight" "Whatever you do, you do for an Audience of One" - graham said "I said this one every time I walked out on the field" "Experience is not what happens to you; its what you d o with what happens to you" "The 3 - P's to life are, Prayer, Persistence, and Planning" - my granddad "Train like you're second, play like you're in first" and last but not least "Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today an d make a new ending"