April 3rd, 2015 | Uncategorized
When I was around 13, my dad sat me down and told me even though he believed I could get there, it wouldn’t be easy getting a Division 1 basketball scholarship. The next four years I worked harder than I had ever before to reach this goal. My time in the gym was joined by one person other than my dad – with Mike C; the 26 year old basketball machine that could pound a ball harder than anyone I ever knew.
I will be forever grateful that my dad brought me to Mike C, who was known to me as the one who, behind the doors of the Calvin Coolidge Elementary School Gym, someone I tended to be a tad terrified to see.
It was the fear that came with going through the session, and how hard I would allow myself to be pushed; the fear of the process to get to the next level. It was the urge to not give up and the refusal to be content with my game is what these two together have instilled in me.
Mike and I would do 75-minute sessions, and eventually at the 1 hour mark I’d have to give my dad “the eye” signifying that Mike had forgotten to give me a water break! (I think it’s been enough time that I can finally laugh at this!)
So, from drill to drill, there was always the one I dreaded – the one-on-one continuous full court, nonstop with him up in my face; legs shaking; reaching in and then to see we are still stuck in the back court cause I can’t get by him. I’m starting to get a wheeze going on – the holding-in-crying, I’m-so-tired-and-want-to-give-up, and please-just-let-me-by-you type of wheeze. Haha. Oh man. I remember going through this situation in my head as I sat in the car with my dad on a snow day waiting for Mike to (hopefully not) make it through the snow and to the gym to work out.
I’ve found it so hard to not resist situations that I know will make me better in the long run. They are always the hard circumstances, of course, that we learn from and grow from. I may not have known it then, but this experience among many, many others have and will endure…and as long as I push to be there at the gym, to be there for a friend, to treat others right and not jip myself out of what life offers, I will be giving all situations what I’ve got.
Where I am today is no different than where I was that day in the gym. I eventually made it down the court and past Mike to score, and then I enjoyed my water, and got back up when the next challenge presented itself.
Victory Scholar: Jennifer Morabito
Sport League: MAAC League
Present University: Trinity College Dublin
Alma Mater: Canisus College
