When someone asks me what do you do for a hobby or what sports do you play, I say “Shooting!.” At first they’re confused. “Like animals, you shoot with bows and arrows…?” they ask. What I shoot is competition rifles, a .22 long rifle, for small bore and a .22 air rifle. There are different positions for shooting competitively, different techniques to that ensure a good shot, and the most important thing is practice, practice, practice.

I started shooting in January of 2008 at the age of 13. So for the last five years shooting has been my life. When you first start shooting in this area, you join the Galway Junior Rifle Club as a club member. The club is on Route 29, and is open every Wednesday starting at 6 pm. You have to be 12 years old or older to handle a rifle in New York. You start shooting with a .22 small bore rifle, a club’s rifle. The first position you learn is prone, which is a lying down on your stomach position. The next position is sitting, then kneeling, then finally, the hardest one of them all, standing. There are different bars, (levels), in each position and once you complete all those bars you move onto the next position. When you’ve finally finish the final bar in standing you achieve something call your Distinguished Expert or DE. DE is the highest bar you can get and it usually takes about ten to twelve months to achieve this goal. It took me about ten to eleven months to get my DE. Once you get your DE, you feel very accomplished and that you can shoot any target and get a perfect score.

After you’ve been shooting for awhile and feel that shooting is something you really want to do and stick with it, you can try out for the shooting team. The team consists of six shooters. When I tried out for the team, there was one spot open and three people trying out for that spot. I was the youngest of three and the only girl.  Our trial period was about three months and involved going to small matches and doing our best. And in the end, I made the team.

I always looked up to the older, more experienced shooters who would shoot scores of 580’s to 590’s, out of 600. When I first started, I was shooting 540’s to 550’s and I always wanted to be better like my role models, and I would get upset when I didn’t do well. But the captain of the team, Kyle Donnan, told me that he’d been shooting for five years and that when he started his scores were worse than mine, and that over time, and with much more practice I’d be kicking his butt. And I feel like its that way with all new shooters, that they want to be doing better than they are, but they’re not that ready yet. And with positive comments and more practice, they all will get better.
Towards the end of 2008, I was eligible to go to Binghamton to the Empire State Games for a weekend to compete. In 2009, the team traveled to Palmyra, Pennsylvania for a competition. This past summer I had the privilege to go to Georgia and train with the Army Marskmanship unit. it was such an amazing experience.  The day after we got there two of the army men had just arrived from London from the Olympics.  We really appreciated the advice they offered.

Today I am early signing with the University of Tennesse at Martin, joining the ranks of Galway graduates Heather Tillson and Steven Hahn,  and will be able to continue my shooting.   In addition, I hope to pursue a degree that will allow me to protect animals.