Editor’s Note: “Hawks Uncovered” is a series that tells the often unknown stories of Hebron students and staff.
“Put it in God’s hands.”
That’s what senior Layla Thompson told herself to do. She would do the work — make posters, campaign with her boyfriend and ask her friends to vote for her — but, ultimately, she would pray. When she won Homecoming Queen, she knew putting it “in God’s hands” paid off.
This is the way she’s been raised — her grandfather was a pastor and her mom was Catholic. Being raised in faith was “just bound to happen,” as she puts it. No matter what she faces, it is her mindset.
It was her mindset when she first began playing sports. Her brother was in soccer and the moment she tried it for herself, Layla fell in love. She dabbled in other sports throughout middle school, but always came back to soccer; finding a sport was in God’s hands.
It was her mindset when she made it on varsity soccer her freshman year, with just two other members of the class of 2025 next to her. It was a learning curve to play against girls who were bigger, stronger and older, but she stuck it out. She said it was in God’s hands.
It was her mindset in February of the next year, when her world crashed with a stumble during a non-contact play. She rolled her ankle, breaking two bones and a ligament on the turf field. In four months, she would have been able to talk with colleges; the doctors told her she would be unable to play for seven months at the earliest.
Her mindset faltered and her heart broke.
Seven months? She thought when she first heard the news. All this time building up stamina, skills and athleticism. Now I’m just out.
As she took a backseat from soccer — her passion, the thing she had done for so long — Layla kept reminding herself of the same thing she had been all her life: it’s in God’s hands.
It was in God’s hands when she got surgery. It was in God’s hands when she convinced herself not to quit. It was in God’s hands when she would play again. It was in God’s hands when she had to push through the mental block of playing and strengthening her muscles all over again.
And at that Homecoming football game, it was in God’s hands again. Prepared to lose but hoping to win, Layla prayed before the game and walked onto the field during halftime. After winning Homecoming Queen, Layla smiled and put the rest of her senior year in God’s hands.
