COMMUNITY JOURNALISM: Define yourself

Editor's note: Moza Faym 26, is a former Anamosa High School standout who won a pair of state wrestling championships before becoming a two-time All-American at the University of Northern Iowa. He lives in Colorado Springs, Colo., training in freestyle wrestling. He and his wife, Lauren (Berberich), welcomed their first child, a daughter, in March.

Every once in a while I go through a circumstance in life that really challenges me. And sometimes, life gets really crazy and multiple things pile up at once that really pressure me to perform.

In those moments everything seems to happen at the exact wrong time, and the abnormal amount of stress becomes more than just a random string of stressful moments but rather a test of my character.

When I feel like this, I step back, collect my thoughts and get ready to battle.

During my collegiate wrestling career, in a national tournament, I made it to the notorious round of 12. In this round, if you win you become an All-American and if you lose you go home. My opponent slammed me on the mat knocking the wind out of me in the third and final period of competition, but ref kept the competition going.

In that moment when I was tired and injured, my whole year of training flashed before my eyes. My coach calmly stood up and yelled my name: “Moza Fay.”

It awakened something deep inside me that made the pain and exhaustion present, but not matter anymore. It was a test of character, a call to action. In that moment I had to decide what kind of competitor I was going to be. When he called my name out loud I made the decision to press on.

I believe that these tough circumstances in life help me dig deep inside and find out more about myself - and find out what kind of character I am made of. I have found that if I look at these circumstances as a way to define myself it motivates me to do my best.

So remember your trials define you. We have all been there, conquered these struggles, and are better individuals for it.

After my match the only thing that mattered to me was I learned who I was that day. Victory felt great but learning about who I am was much more rewarding.

For more of Fay's commentaries, go to www.thedrivenclass.com/author/moza

You can also follow Fay on Twitter at @mozafaywrestlin or on his Moza Fay Wrestling Facebook page.