By Colin Anderson | Photo By Dylan Green
Destiny Lyons, Senior
For senior Destiny Lyons, being physically active and participating in sports is something that’s been instilled from a very young age. Her mother is a basketball coach and physical education teacher, so she’s grown up around all sorts of athletics. Destiny has been on several teams at the school including volleyball, soccer, and her favorite—basketball. While she’s an accomplished basketball player, she also has found success late in her high school sports career at something that only recently piqued her interest. “My junior year was the first year I went out for track and ended up making it to state in the 300-meter hurdles. I plan to do track again this spring,” she stated.
Like many young athletes, Destiny works very hard to accomplish goals both for herself and her teammates. When things don’t go according to plan, the results can be hard to take. Destiny admits that self-doubt and struggles with confidence happen, but she’s also taken that adversity and learned from it. “All sports come with challenges, but over the years I've learned strategies to try and help myself overcome them, such as giving myself positive affirmations,” she said.
Destiny’s favorite part of basketball and the other sports she’s engaged in is the challenge of competition. She especially enjoys this when everyone on the team buys in and works hard for one another. “It’s fun to spend time with others who enjoy the same sport I do, and it’s even better when we are working together to all reach one common goal.”
At school, Destiny also works hard in the classroom. She’s maintained her place on the school’s Honor Roll throughout the entirety of her schooling. She was class vice president as a freshman, and class president her sophomore year. This year she decided to take on the challenging nursing class at the school and recently passed her CNA exam. The experience has led her to pursue a nursing degree after graduation. “I plan on attending Dixie State University in the fall in St. George, Utah, to earn a degree in nursing,” she shared. “I am interested in going into nursing because I love helping people, and I think it is a career that is very beneficial and I would enjoy!”
As Destiny prepares for her final competitions on the track this spring, she is thankful for the role athletics have played in her life, and the teammates who have also been by her side. “The friendships I’ve made with my teammates can’t be beat.” As far as life lessons she’s taken from sports, it comes down to something very simple: “To always work hard and never give up. If you want to get to a certain place in life, you have to work for it; nothing comes free,” she stated.