All my life I have had this love for the game of basketball, and my drive to be the best at what I do and my competitive streak has spilled over into other realms of my life. I started playing basketball when I moved to California when I was eleven and I haven’t ever stopped. It is a land of beaches and oceans and pure energy derived from the people. They have an attitude that keeps them from simply staying indoors and everybody seemed to be going somewhere. If you venture out to Venice beach you can see it all in a nutshell; the women tanning, (among other things) beat boys rocking to the rhythm of their own creative drum, the steroid pumping monster men, the countless kiosk selling their wares, and so much more. People riding boogie boards and surfers channeling their fears into gargantuan powerhouse waves, turning them into a thing of beauty. There are skateboarders and rollerblade crews chopping up their own street courses and the whole vibe screams to everyone, “get out and play!” It was in this land that I learned to run, dribble, and shoot my way past any pain or panic. It was basketball that took me away from the pressures of homework and it was basketball that earned me the praise of my peers. I became competitive because on the L.A. playgrounds, if you lose, even one game, you could be done for the rest of the day. There are so many people trying to get a good game in that hours can go by without another chance to play and so you’ve got to play to win. The brothers out there don’t care if your 14 or 41, the rule in the slums is, if you step up you’d better put up or shut up.
Ten years later, I live in Springfield and I am attending school to become a business major, I don’t think that the rules for the world of high finance are much different. You either produce or you too can be one of the thousands who fail every single year, so bring you’re a game.