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Personal Narrative: My Experience At College Basketball

1120 Words5 Pages

For anyone who has ever been passionate about being the best at something, whether it is athletics, music, art, theatre or any number of other endeavors, it is painful to come face to face with someone who is more talented. I have lived this experience in college basketball.

While never a great athlete, I enjoyed a fair amount of success as a high school basketball player, mostly because I am 6’8” tall. During my junior and senior seasons my high school basketball team tallied a record of 44-13 and made it to the regional championship twice. At the end of my senior season I was named First-Team All Conference, as well as named to the All-Area Team. Needless to say, as my senior season came to a close, I was incredibly excited about how my …show more content…

That summer I took a job in the Wheaton College athletic facility so that I could train everyday after work. Over the course of those summer months, I spent countless hours lifting weights, playing pick-up basketball games, and running on the track. By mid-August, I was in the best physical condition of my life and ready to start the basketball season. Then something happened that would greatly affect my life for the next two …show more content…

I will likely be the starting center for the Wheaton College men’s basketball team this season. However, the honor of starting for the basketball team is not nearly as important to me as it once was. More than the honor of awards and the glory of personal recognition, I can now appreciate what basketball has taught me about myself. I have learned that I crave competitive environments, even ones where I am not the most gifted or talented. My basketball experience has also taught me to enjoy intense preparation and working with a team toward a common goal, even when there is little personal reward or recognition to be found. I have also learned to remain persistent amid disappointments. I hope to apply these lessons in a career as a litigator in a corporate law firm. The intense preparation required for trial, the need to work as a team toward a common goal, and the ability to perform all of these tasks without seeking personal glory are all lessons that I have learned on the basketball court over the past three seasons. These are lessons that I want to apply to my life and to my eventual career in

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