* Time Flies

I wrote this a year ago for a college application. Man, I miss basketball.
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Never be afraid to fail because everything happens for a reason. Never let what other people think decide who you are.

It was during freshmen year, a Wednesday, when I joined the team. I walked with a batch mate to the foot ball field because she told me that the team jogged around the field every Wednesdays. At that point, I was still unsure why I was there. The coach talked to me and then asked me a question that took me several years to figure out, “Why do you play basketball?"

In my first two years, I was the ultimate bench-warmer. During training, I’d warm-up then go straight to the bench. By the time I got home, I’d still be wearing the same shirt for all the sweat had already dried up. During games, while most of my teammates handled the ball, I would take care of the Gatorade. Sometimes, I wasn’t even part of the league so I would sit on the bleachers. I got to play occasionally when the time remaining on the clock was less than a minute and we were winning or losing by double digits but all that was in the past. The head coach was replaced during the summer of my third year, so the whole system changed. There were a lot of new plays and training schemes. The new coach paid attention to every single one of us. That was when things started to go differently. I took basketball more seriously because I finally felt like I mattered.

Something happened on the first game of my third year. Suddenly, while I was listening to the coach announce the first five players of the game, he mentioned my name. At that moment, I lost it.Something as momentous as this had never happened to me before and I just didn’t know how to cope with the nerves. I could say this though, I was freaking exhilarated.

Sadly, we lost that game.

I wasn’t going to let one loss stop me. I took that defeat and I turned it into my personal form of motivation. With it, I began to expect more from myself. I never again wanted my team to experience the feeling of defeat, the feeling of helplessness, the feeling of failure. We played more games as a team and while playing, I grew as a person. I started to think less about myself and more about others. I played for the name in front of the jersey rather than the one at the back. From then on, I learned how to discipline myself. There was never an excuse to not work harder every chance I could get. I wanted to be a winner. I wanted to make things happen.

I have one more year left to play for La Salle. I’ll do everything I can to help my team win every single game even if it means passing on towels to my teammates, handing over Gatorade, or even sitting on the bench if that is what is needed. But every time I get to play, I make every second count.

Three years ago my coach asked me why I play basketball. The feeling of a basketball in my hands, the swish of the ball when it goes through the hoop, the sound my shoes make when I run on the wooden court, my love for the game — This is my answer.