By Mitch Fahey, Staff Writer, Emerson College
Ever since I was a little kid, I loved playing sports. It never mattered which sport, just as long as I was having fun. When I turned fourteen, though, I realized that the sport I was most passionate about was basketball. At first I was a timid player, always passing, never shooting, and never speaking up about anything. In the next few years, however, I came into myself as a complete basketball player. But this isn’t about playing basketball; this is about how I grew into the person I am today through playing basketball.
I run my life the way I run myself on the basketball court and each facet of my game equates to a different part of how I live my life. My favorite things to do in basketball are to rebound, to drive down the lane, and to play intense defense. I love rebounding because I get to jump over many people, “sky” for a bound, take what I worked for, and turn that rebound into a basket. I have a passion for taking the ball at the top of the key and driving down the middle through defenders and getting the ball into the basket any way I can. Like all sports, basketball is not just a game of offense, but also a game of defense. I concentrate so hard on defense in basketball because I am determined not to allow the opposing team to experience the glories of scoring. Whenever I do these things, I feel unstoppable. I get such an immense sense of accomplishment. I feel this way because I know that I can get through any obstacles on my way to getting the points. And, this belief carries over into my life. I know that I have to face obstacles head on and I am determined to fight through them so I can accomplish what I need to do.
When I tried out for my high school basketball team freshman year, I was not the player or the person I am today. That year, I was still just that unconfident player who always passed, didn’t shoot, and never vocalized anything. Also for many reasons whether it was from school, my self image, or my family, I felt anxious, scared, worried, and at times depressed about my life and myself. Basketball seemed like the only medium I had where I count on being happy. After the week-long tryout, I thought I had played well enough to make the team, but to my dismay, the coach hadn’t picked me. At first I was angry. I believed that some kids were selected only because the basketball coach was also the baseball coach and he wanted his players to stay in shape. For the next few weeks my anger turned to sadness and I felt like a different person. I didn’t play basketball at all, not even with my friends. I was so distraught I couldn’t even bear to look at a court. I turned on basketball and my happiness because I felt like it had turned on me and I had nothing left to make me happy. I started to withdraw from anything that mattered to me in my life. I sulked around and become less social and more unhappy with myself. Not making the team was a catalyst that took my already ongoing depressed feelings and escalated them to a depression I went through for most of my high school experience.
Senior year was when my mindset to break my depression and become happy once again came to fruition. I realized only I could make a change in my life and that sulking wouldn’t help me become a better person and feel good about myself. I started playing basketball again and I gradually started become myself again. Over the next few years, I developed into the basketball player and person I am today. I made finer passes, I shot the ball more often and with greater efficiency, and I played better defense, but most of all I built up my confidence to maximum potential. I found my strengths and my confidence and used them to my advantage. I always wanted the ball now, not just to shoot, but because I had the confidence to make the right play and come through in the clutch. I had transitioned from a nervous, insecure basketball player into the skilled and confident team player I am today.
Every skill I possessed translated to my life. I believe that basketball was a huge reason of how I broke out of my depression and become the person I am today. As I got more confident and skilled on the court I began to feel those feelings in all aspects of my life. It helped me become a better student, able to balance my time well between academics and fun. It helped me become a more confident and outgoing person, someone not afraid to get out there and make friends or to have conversations or to ask a girl out. It gave me the mindset to try my best and understand that there is failure in life, but what is important is how I respond to that failure and keep pushing forward, bettering myself every step of the way. Not making the team in ninth grade was the best thing that could have happened to me because it taught me how to turn anger and sadness into determination. I wanted to prove I could be the best all-around player on the court and I wanted to prove I could be the best me.
As a senior, I decided to go out for my high school’s team once again. This time I did it not to make the team, but because of my love of basketball and what it taught me about myself.
I know nothing can ever stop me from skying for a rebound or driving down the court, and I won’t allow anything or anyone to keep me from driving towards my goals in life. Getting cut from the basketball team freshman year began as a disappointment I couldn’t face but, as I matured, I learned to use this negative experience as positive motivation to make myself both a stronger more confident player and a stronger more confident person. Even more importantly, I no longer cared about the disappointment of freshman year. I now played basketball for myself, for my own enjoyment, for my love of the game. I was happy to be me. My best advice for anyone is to find their own personal basketball and use it to better their life and discover that anything is possible with the right drive.
Mitch was born in a lab in wrong island New York, blessed with a donk the size of Texas. He is a writing for film and TV sophomore who enjoys the tender touch of a sea otter and long walks on the beach. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
Image: Augustaga.com
Ever since I was a little kid, I loved playing sports. It never mattered which sport, just as long as I was having fun. When I turned fourteen, though, I realized that the sport I was most passionate about was basketball. At first I was a timid player, always passing, never shooting, and never speaking up about anything. In the next few years, however, I came into myself as a complete basketball player. But this isn’t about playing basketball; this is about how I grew into the person I am today through playing basketball.
I run my life the way I run myself on the basketball court and each facet of my game equates to a different part of how I live my life. My favorite things to do in basketball are to rebound, to drive down the lane, and to play intense defense. I love rebounding because I get to jump over many people, “sky” for a bound, take what I worked for, and turn that rebound into a basket. I have a passion for taking the ball at the top of the key and driving down the middle through defenders and getting the ball into the basket any way I can. Like all sports, basketball is not just a game of offense, but also a game of defense. I concentrate so hard on defense in basketball because I am determined not to allow the opposing team to experience the glories of scoring. Whenever I do these things, I feel unstoppable. I get such an immense sense of accomplishment. I feel this way because I know that I can get through any obstacles on my way to getting the points. And, this belief carries over into my life. I know that I have to face obstacles head on and I am determined to fight through them so I can accomplish what I need to do.
When I tried out for my high school basketball team freshman year, I was not the player or the person I am today. That year, I was still just that unconfident player who always passed, didn’t shoot, and never vocalized anything. Also for many reasons whether it was from school, my self image, or my family, I felt anxious, scared, worried, and at times depressed about my life and myself. Basketball seemed like the only medium I had where I count on being happy. After the week-long tryout, I thought I had played well enough to make the team, but to my dismay, the coach hadn’t picked me. At first I was angry. I believed that some kids were selected only because the basketball coach was also the baseball coach and he wanted his players to stay in shape. For the next few weeks my anger turned to sadness and I felt like a different person. I didn’t play basketball at all, not even with my friends. I was so distraught I couldn’t even bear to look at a court. I turned on basketball and my happiness because I felt like it had turned on me and I had nothing left to make me happy. I started to withdraw from anything that mattered to me in my life. I sulked around and become less social and more unhappy with myself. Not making the team was a catalyst that took my already ongoing depressed feelings and escalated them to a depression I went through for most of my high school experience.
Senior year was when my mindset to break my depression and become happy once again came to fruition. I realized only I could make a change in my life and that sulking wouldn’t help me become a better person and feel good about myself. I started playing basketball again and I gradually started become myself again. Over the next few years, I developed into the basketball player and person I am today. I made finer passes, I shot the ball more often and with greater efficiency, and I played better defense, but most of all I built up my confidence to maximum potential. I found my strengths and my confidence and used them to my advantage. I always wanted the ball now, not just to shoot, but because I had the confidence to make the right play and come through in the clutch. I had transitioned from a nervous, insecure basketball player into the skilled and confident team player I am today.
Every skill I possessed translated to my life. I believe that basketball was a huge reason of how I broke out of my depression and become the person I am today. As I got more confident and skilled on the court I began to feel those feelings in all aspects of my life. It helped me become a better student, able to balance my time well between academics and fun. It helped me become a more confident and outgoing person, someone not afraid to get out there and make friends or to have conversations or to ask a girl out. It gave me the mindset to try my best and understand that there is failure in life, but what is important is how I respond to that failure and keep pushing forward, bettering myself every step of the way. Not making the team in ninth grade was the best thing that could have happened to me because it taught me how to turn anger and sadness into determination. I wanted to prove I could be the best all-around player on the court and I wanted to prove I could be the best me.
As a senior, I decided to go out for my high school’s team once again. This time I did it not to make the team, but because of my love of basketball and what it taught me about myself.
I know nothing can ever stop me from skying for a rebound or driving down the court, and I won’t allow anything or anyone to keep me from driving towards my goals in life. Getting cut from the basketball team freshman year began as a disappointment I couldn’t face but, as I matured, I learned to use this negative experience as positive motivation to make myself both a stronger more confident player and a stronger more confident person. Even more importantly, I no longer cared about the disappointment of freshman year. I now played basketball for myself, for my own enjoyment, for my love of the game. I was happy to be me. My best advice for anyone is to find their own personal basketball and use it to better their life and discover that anything is possible with the right drive.
Mitch was born in a lab in wrong island New York, blessed with a donk the size of Texas. He is a writing for film and TV sophomore who enjoys the tender touch of a sea otter and long walks on the beach. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
Image: Augustaga.com