Author:	Eddie Rojas
	Grade:	Junior
	School:	Lake Washington
	Mascot:	Kangaroos
	League:	KingCo
	Classification:	3A

Always Rising Everyone goes through hard moments. Everyone has those times that seem just easy to quit and give up on. Whether it is struggling to understand that math lesson, struggling to keep up during a race, failing to get that certain hold while rock climbing, or even just struggling to stay positive through tough moments. Like Rocky Balboa once said, “Until you start believing in yourself, you ain’t gonna have a life”. Every thought starts out in the mind, then it goes forward towards the body turning into an action. Being mentally tough is easier said than done but can be a life changer in the long run. Here at Lake Washington High school, one of our mottos is aLWays Rising, especially on the football team. Aside from the fact that it stands out because our school initials are in the middle of the word aLWays, that is not why it should stand out. Always Rising means to get back up when life knocks you to the ground and you must fight with every inch of your body to bring yourself back up. Always rising means that you push through the challenge when adversity comes knocking on the door. Always Rising means that throughout all the tough moments in life we collectively love every challenge that is thrown our way because we know that we must build a foundation before we can rise. Like our football coach always says, “When it’s too tough for them, it’s just right for us”. We all face challenging moments in life. All of us. But tough moments don’t only show us that you must pick yourself back up from adversity, but it also shows us that we have to pick up and motivate everyone around us. It doesn’t matter how hard we fall because we know that someone is going to be there when we fall. Always Rising is more than just a catchy slogan that we have put hashtags on and more than just a caption for all the football game pictures that are posted every year. It means so much more. It resembles how we will face every challenge out there and when adversity hits we just sit back and say “We Love it”. Not only do we preach aLWays Rising to our own school, we spread to the  entire community and the future of Lake Washington High School. In multiple occasions, we have helped the younger generation by hosting youth camps and going to elementary schools to greet kids and inform them about what we do at LW football. Reaching out to the younger community gives them a basic foundation for what is to come in later experiences. We teach them that it is ok to fail but we also teach that it is not acceptable to quit. If you fall, you get back up. If you get a bad grade on a test, you get back and keep studying. We know that it is not going to be easy, but nothing easy is worth going for so go out and aLWays Rise.