During my time in middle school, I wasn’t the most athletic person in my class. I didn’t have the privilege to play multiple sports growing up. I spent most of my time playing piano, playing soccer with kids from church, and watching television on the weekend. My parents worked every day during the week, so I was left with a babysitter, who I called grandma, who stayed with me throughout the week. 

At school, all the kids would talk about sports, specifically basketball, baseball, and football. During my seventh grade year, I begged my mom to let me join my school basketball team. I wanted to have something in common with my classmates. Even though I did have friends at school, they were also very invested in those sports. To my surprise, she said yes, and I was overwhelmed with joy. When it finally came to our first practice, I didn’t do too much that day. We did a five-on-five practice game. I was naturally fast so I didn’t think I was going to have much trouble playing. When I got the ball, I barely dribbled the ball or when I got it, I would always miss when I shot it. I didn’t have much basketball experience. I thought if I just went to practice I would pick it up quickly. Although I did get better, I wasn’t good enough to score points in the actual games.

 I remember during one of the games, the score was 49-51 in the fourth quarter. My team was down by two points and the opposing team got a turnover. There were fifteen seconds left on the clock and my teammates passed me the ball. I shot the ball from the three-point line and missed. I was worried that I just gave up a game-winning shot. I could tell that my teammates were not happy with the shot I took. The other team had possession of the ball and I chased down one of the players with the ball. I stole the ball and passed it to one of my teammates to tie the game. My teammates went from really mad to suprised when that happened. Unfortunately, we still lost that game during overtime.

When I went to school, my classmates told other people in my class about me playing basketball. People in my class knew I don’t play many sports so when they heard I was playing basketball, they couldn’t believe it. Unfortunately, they weren’t saying anything nice about me playing basketball. I got comments from classmates saying stuff like “Can you even make a layup,” “You play ball like a grandma,” and the worst of all, “Aren’t Black people supposed to be good at basketball.” All the boys that played basketball would only talk about how bad I was at playing. I felt very annoyed and angry. My classmates always bothered me saying that I don’t play enough sports, but when it came to actually learning how to play, they would just make fun of me. It only got worse when it came to gym class at school. When we played basketball during one of the gym classes, I would always be the last pick on someone’s team. Even if I did get to join someone’s team, they never passed me the ball, even if I was open. Gym class was one of the classes I never felt happy about because I knew I wasn’t going to get much playing time. People thought I was so unathletic, they didn’t think I could catch a ball. I felt not wanted at all. I would be upset after every class. I would even be mad at my parents for not making time for me to learn other sports. At one point, I had to ask myself, if I could either get better or stay at the same level I am at. 

During the basketball season, after every practice, I would watch YouTube videos on how to get better and practice at home. I would spend time after homework practicing dribble moves, shooting, and taking free throw shots for an hour at home. Although I didn’t score in the games, people gave me some respect for trying my best. This experience taught me that you can’t change how people view you. You can only be the best version of yourself to make people see a different side of yourself.