A year ago when this scholarship was released, a senior asked me for ideas to include in their essay and I had absolutely zero. It wasn't until the end of my final basketball season that I really grasped the importance of being a tiger athlete and realized what I was going to miss in the upcoming years. For six years, I put everything I had into one sport, and I asked myself more than once what I was getting out of all this effort. Now after endless hours in the gym and weight room, after shedding ounces of blood, sweat and tears I realize what being an athlete gave back to me, and it's even more than I gave to it. Being a tiger athlete taught me the values of true friendships, hard work, leadership, and determination. Over my time as a tiger …show more content…
I had put more hours into the gym than anyone else and it was not paying off. I was not getting the playing hours I felt I deserved, we were not winning games, we had awful practices, nothing was going the way it was supposed to go. Multiple conference games into the season we had a very rough locker room talk and I left the gym in tears questioning whether I wanted to continue playing. The next day one player quit and I tried as well with another one of my teammates. After a heartfelt conversation with my coach and teammates, I made the decision to keep on pushing through. This season taught me the importance of perseverance, it gave me a new meaning behind determination, and I ended the season a better athlete and person because of the challenges I faced. Being a tiger athlete taught me the importance of never letting anyone get in the way of what you love, of never letting anyone push you to your lowest point, of fighting back when facing defeat. These are all meaningful lessons that will help carry me through the rest of my life.
I realize I have answered more of what being a tiger athlete has taught me rather than what it has meant to be, but they go hand in hand. Being a tiger athlete has meant everything to me. Without this program I would not possess the life skills I have now, I would not be the person I am today. Basketball provided me Being a tiger athlete provided me with the opportunity to gain