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Hi , kids , hockey Mom , christy , here , the

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next time you get stuck on a thing for

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a poem or an essay , I

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encourage you to put down your sticks

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and pick up a pen and think

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hockey . My kids did , and

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they did really well with every

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essay and poem they ever wrote about hockey

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. Here's what I'm going to share with you now . My

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son wrote this when he was 14 years old

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. He was a defenseman , number 29

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. He called it challenged and

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inspired by hockey . He was 14 years

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old when he wrote this . Here we go I

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defy convention through my work ethic

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, which developed and grew through my years

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of playing hockey . My generation

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has grown up expecting things to come

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to them instantly , in a snap

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, so much so we've been

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dubbed Generation . Now Please

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don't lump me into that category . I'm

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the type of person who likes to work toward a

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goal , no matter how long it may take . When

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I started playing hockey at the age of eight

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, most of the kids around me were tremendously

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more advanced . They started skating

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as soon as they could walk . That

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certainly didn't give me the edge in

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this fast , infurious sport , but

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instead of hanging up the skates

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, I was motivated to work even

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harder . I became determined

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to catch up to the kids who could literally

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skate circles around me and make

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the elite travel team . I

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dedicated an entire summer of

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my young life to hockey , practicing

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every day , shooting on the net in my driveway

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over and over again until my parents

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nagged me to come inside . When

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I returned to the arena after that summer

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, the coaches saw a totally

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different skater . They were

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shocked to see the kid who struggled so

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much to keep up now leading

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the pack . I tried out for the team

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that year and made it . That

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was one of the most satisfying feelings I

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ever experienced dedicating

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myself to a goal and then reaching

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it . Hockey provided a good life

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lesson for me . When I now set

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a goal for myself , I not only want

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to reach it , I have to exceed it

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and reach heights that I didn't

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even know were possible . That

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is how I defy convention

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in my life . By

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Joey Burns .