Being a kid at High Point is pretty basic, white americans who all speak english and drive BMW’s and Range Rovers. For junior point guard Jorge Perez- Laham, it was different story, he had a rougher transition than most kids going into college. Born in San Juan and raised in Canovanas, Puerto Rico; Perez- Laham Picked up the sport of basketball at a young age by learning from his family. “I was probably 5 when I started playing, my mom was the person who got me into basketball because she used to play in college and professionally, also being able to watch my older brother play while growing up taught me a lot.” Perez-Laham lived in Puerto Rico until 17 then moved to Miami for his senior year of high school for basketball. It was his first year away from home and living in the states, he had to overcome several things living in a strange place for his first time. “First …show more content…
Perez-Laham was finally recruited by High Point University to play basketball and offered him a scholarship. High Point, N.C., a very different place than Puerto Rico and Miami, but Perez-Laham wanted to fulfill his dream by playing ball and going to college. Perez-Laham’s first year was the hardest because the area was so unusual to him. Freshman year he had to overcome several things that High Point had because it was different. “It was probably tougher for him than it was for all of us as a coaching staff, coming into a strait english culture.”, said HPU Assistant Coach Eric Gabriel. Perez-Laham was lacking the latin culture, so he felt like he didn’t fit in because of his background and his accent.“The Culture difference in High Point was tough for me because in Miami there is a lot of Latin culture and coming to High Point it was the complete opposite, there is a very small latino community here, compared to what I’m used to.”, said