Lessons are past experiences in life that shape the future depending on how it is approached. A specific challenge I encountered that taught me a very valuable lesson was when I was working extra hard to make the varsity basketball team my junior year. I went the two previous years on the tournament team, which consisted of playing full time on JV and occasionally being pulled up to varsity games and tournaments, but I wanted to prove that I could handle more.        As a kid I was extremely unathletic, to the point where I looked like I had two left feet. When I asked my parents to sign me up for basketball they were shocked because my coordination and balance were all over the place. Obviously I was a lot less skilled than kids who have been playing for a number of years before me, but what set me apart was the fact that I was fearless and had a passion to succeed. Even though I wasn’t the best, I knew this was the sport I wanted to play, so my parents decided to invest in a trainer to build my strength and skills. When I got to high school I knew immediately that I wanted to play for the school team, so I went from training every now and then to working out everyday, which started to set me apart from others. Starting my freshman year during COVID set me ahead because I continued to work while others didn’t. I went from playing almost the full game for JV and sitting the bench of varsity games my freshman year, to leading the JV team and seeing the varsity court for a couple of seconds my sophomore year. Although I was making progress, I wasn’t satisfied. I was craving the game time and wanted to show that the work I was putting in outside of practice was actually helping. The summer of my junior year I grinded like no other; I would have practice in the morning and then one or two training sessions in the afternoon. I wanted to prove that I was varsity material, and if the coaches couldn’t see it off the bat, I would have to work harder than anyone else. The training I did eventually started to translate into my practices, but the issue was that I still hardly played in the varsity summer tournaments. At these practices I was always paired up with the quickest and best ball handler on the team, which made my defense one of the hardest to beat. When we finally started to go to tournaments, the few seconds I was on the court I made a positive impact with my defense, which stood out to my coaches. Throughout each game I started to be put in for longer than the last, allowing me to show what I have been working on for years. By the time season rolled around I went from playing about 30 seconds a game to being one of the starting five. Although it was an on-going mental battle and one of the hardest things I had accomplished, I pushed through and learned that no matter what obstacles are in the way, if you believe in what you’re working for, put in the hard work, and stay dedicated to what you want, anything is achievable.

Lessons are past experiences in life that shape the future depending on how it is approached. I learned this when I was working extra hard to make the varsity basketball team my junior year. I went the two previous years on the tournament team, which consisted of playing full time on JV and occasionally being pulled up to varsity games and tournaments, I| got to play but I wanted to prove that I could handle more. As a kid I was extremely unathletic, so when I asked my parents to sign me up for basketball they were shocked since my coordination was all over the place. Obviously I was a lot less skilled than kids who have been playing for years before me, but what set me apart was my fearlessness and my passion to succeed. Even though I wasn't the best, I knew this was the sport I wanted to play, so my parents decided to invest in a trainer to build my strength and skills. When I got to high school I knew immediately that I wanted to play for the school team, so I went from training every now-and-then to working out everyday, which started to set me apart from others. Starting my freshman year during COVID set me ahead because I continued to work while others didn't. Over time I was making progress throughout the program, but I wasn't satisfied. I was craving the game time and wanted to show that the work I was putting in outside of practice was actually helping. The summer of my junior year I grinded like no other; I would have practice in the morning and then a couple training sessions in the afternoon. I wanted to prove that I was varsity material, and if the coaches couldn't see it off the bat, I would have to work harder than anyone else. The training I did eventually started to translate into my practices, but the issue was that I still hardly played in the varsity tournaments. At practices I was always paired up with the quickest and best ball handler on the team, which made my defense one of the hardest to beat. When we finally started to go to tournaments, the few seconds I was on the court I made a positive impact with my defense, which stood out to my coaches. Throughout each game I started to be put in for longer than the last, allowing me to show what I have been working on for years. By the time season rolled around I went from playing 30 seconds a game to being one of the starting five. Although it was an on-going mental battle and one of the hardest things I had accomplished while maintaining higher than a 4.0 GPA, I pushed through and learned that no matter what obstacles are in the way, if you believe in what you're working for, put in the hard work, and stay dedicated to what you want, anything is achievable.