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. 

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. 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 was 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 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. 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 side of yourself that isn’t shown.