Alexis Potts Passion Project Scholarship

My passion and heart have always been in basketball. Over the years, basketball has taken me to many places and showed me a lot of things I did not know about myself. Basketball has not just taken me all around the world but has also impacted me. It impacted me a lot in ways I can't even explain. One thing I can say is it forced me out of my shell and called upon me to be a leader. I used to be a kid who didn't speak up for himself, always quiet in the back. One thing about being a leader is you cannot be quiet and soft-spoken. Those who follow need to be able to hear and understand you. I've always wanted to be a leader but never had the speaking ability to voice the next steps and things of that sort like a leader should, but basketball helped a lot. As many may know to be a great basketball team, you must be vocal. There is a statistic that 84 percent of teams with a great vocal leader win more games than a leader who does not talk to those who follow. Basketball has also impacted me spiritually. Basketball is the starting point of where my relationship with God started. Although I love basketball so much, there have been many times when I didn't have the strength to keep going or had bad thoughts. One thing for sure is after every bad day, bad thought, or bad game, every time I sat and prayed, God was always there for me no matter the situation. It's crazy because, during this basketball journey, there were times when I completely lost faith in him and didn't trust him. Even after I doubted him and did not trust him, he was still there for me. Every time someone asks me where did your relationship with God start? I would say basketball, and they laugh because who would have thought? It's crazy how my passion for basketball helped me find a relationship with God. I used to wonder when I would get my calling from God or when God would let me know when he heard me. Last but not least, basketball has impacted me by shaping my heart. It might sound crazy at first, but it is true. Basketball taught me to have a giving and nice heart. When I played in the AAU tournaments, we would do nice things like feed the homeless and give back to those in need. Seeing those kids and adults with smiles on their faces and tears of joy is the best thing to watch in my eyes. Those times shaped my heart and showed me how blessed I am. I learned it is the little things that matter. We really never know what people are going through, so that's why it's important to be nice all the time, no matter how your day goes.