Personal Narrative: How Basketball Changed My Life

For the majority of my life, I always looked at the negative side of situations, constantly thinking I was inadequate and instilling self doubt in my mind. Questions like, “Am I good enough?” always came to my head. The thought of trying something new scared me because it meant leaving the safe comfort of my dull highschool life. Having a cynical outlook made me feel self-conscious, thus restricting me from trying new things. However, I forced myself to pursue an extracurricular, basketball Basketball had taught me many life lessons, like the importance of being prepared or how to work hard. But the one that stands out the most is the day I became the captain of our team. That day forever changed my outlook on life. On January 2015, we had our first home game

Prior to the game, there had been some disagreements between the upperclassmen, leading to many hurt feelings. Regardless of the drama, we still had a game to play. It was tradition that on our first home game, we elect our team captain. But since tensions were high between all the upperclassmen, none of them would pick another. This allowed me to be elected as team captain. We left the change room and started warmups before I could even protest. I was beyond afraid. How could I, a simple underclassmen, be the captain of this team? Self doubt was building, but I had to put all my emotions aside and muster whatever strength I could to focus on the task at hand, to win our game. The whistle blew and the game started. Thankfully, the beginning of the game went smoothly for us, scoring simple points effortlessly. With each made basket, I began to become more comfortable. Slowly gaining confidence and accepting the fact that I was the captain of this team. The first half went well for us and we led with a comfortable 29 point lead. I was starting to accept my role and buy into the idea of leading this team. By the start of the second half, the opposing team