I grew up in a public school, but ended being split away from my friends, like my best friend at the time Danny, who was my close teammate on the basketball team in middle school. He ended up going to Niles North and I ended up going to Notre Dame. Danny and I would play basketball and train with each other all the time, so when we split up he said “Now we’re gonna get to play each other and see who’s really better.” Danny and I were really competitive because he was always thought to be better than me by everyone and I wanted to be thought of as better. Not knowing anyone at school, I walked through the narrow halls, staring at all these unfamiliar faces that all seemed to know each other. I felt alone at this point but thought being on the