How Basketball Changed My Life

I have been playing basketball since I was in 5th grade. When I went to middle school, I was selected by the district basketball team. I intended to attend every practice because I really did enjoy playing basketball. When I entered 8th grade, there was a tournament amongst all the 8 districts in ShenZhen, the city in which I lived. I considered the tournament as a precious opportunity for me to prove my efforts. Nevertheless, in order to qualify to participate in this tournament, players had to be permanent residents in ShenZhen. My permanent residency was still in the previous province from where my mother came. The coach allowed me to practice with the team because he knew I really wanted to play basketball, and I practiced with all

I must admit that I was extremely frustrated when my doctor told me the conditions of my back. But after years of self-evaluation and reconsideration, I started to realize that the undesirable result does not necessarily make my commitments worthless or futile. Even though I lost a couple of opportunities to show how hard I had been working, playing basketball did change my life enormously. Basketball served as a driving force and motivation throughout my adolescence. I worked hard in basketball in order to persevere, especially after I started practicing with the district basketball team. I began to practice 5 times per week, including summer break and winter break. The more effort I made in basketball, the more adept and distinguished I became. Furthermore, practicing basketball really strengthened my confidence and bolstered my self-esteem. I was exceedingly diffident and taciturn before I began playing basketball. No matter what kind of questions people asked me back then, I would always respond with, “I don’t know,” because I was too timid to speak up. Moreover, basketball taught me that if I try my best, my efforts will pay off. I learned that this lesson does not only apply to basketball, but also to all areas of my life. If I could go back to the past, I would definitely make the same commitments to