Personal Narrative: How Basketball Has Changed My Life

For all my life I have been playing basketball. I still remember my first time I stepped foot on the court. I was just five years. I remember every single detail from that day. I wore my favorite Rajon Rondo shirt, my velcro shoes, and an unwavering smile. That was the night I realized basketball was my passion. But, many season have come and gone and my years of playing draw fewer and fewer. Looking back, I think of all the things I could’ve done differently to just earn a few more years to play. If I just practiced harder that day or played better that tryout or that game. But, I can’t change it no matter how much I wish to. I am stuck with the career I have had. I have played in many games through my life. Too many to even attempt to remember.

No big games, I was still struggling to get minutes, and at points I thought about quitting. Then high school came around. For the first time i began to get recognized. I made the JV team my freshman year and got a couple minutes. So, when sophomore year came around I was prepared for a season of a lot of minutes and a lot of basketball. But, that 's not how it went. I got some minutes but I was held to a higher standard than all the other players so I would often get benched for the smallest of mistakes. I was frustrated and the joy started to come out of basketball. Then as my junior year came around my next sticking moment came. As seen in the picture my junior year I was finally on varsity. I didn’t expect to play or contribute much, I was just happy to be on the team. The third game rolls around and were playing one of the best teams in the league, if not the state. So, i 'm expecting to go in once were down by thirty or so and i 'll have fun playing the garbage minutes. But, I was wrong on both. I played almost the entire game and we won the game. As you can tell by the picture, we celebrated like we just won the championship. It is one of my favorite memories. Not because of the importance of the game or the team we beat, but because of what it did for me. It was the first time I really felt like I was making a difference on a team. I was finally getting the opportunity to prove myself and I was doing it . From that point on I was confident in my ability and I haven’t doubted myself since. It truly was a turning point for