I don’t remember the first time I touched a basketball. For as long as I can remember, I was shooting hoops in the driveway and playing pickup games. As a kid, I remember squirming around in the backseat of the car because I simply couldn’t wait to get to the court for practice. And for years, my weekends have been dominated by games and tournaments. I remember hearing classmates talking about having “nothing to do” on a Saturday, and the concept always seemed completely foreign to me. Even if I didn’t have a game, I would use the time to practice free throws or try to find someone who would be willing to play one-on-one. Once I got to high school, I also started lifting weights at the gym in the mornings and studying game tapes at night, with the goal of doing everything I could to improve my game and shape myself into a college-ready athlete.

Last summer, I had the chance to truly put my skills to the test. Over the course of only a few months, I traveled over 2500 miles to basketball tournaments – from Las Vegas to Georgia to Tibet. Through these experiences, I not only had the opportunity to improve my basketball skills, but I also learned a lot about myself, and I had the chance to experience different cultures and meet people from all over the country and the world.

For me, the best thing about the summer was the fact that I had the chance to live and breathe my passion for basketball. Thinking back, my mind jumps to my proudest moments: hearing the roar of the crowd as beat another athlete to a rebound, sinking a game-winning three-pointer, and racing down the court on defense even when my lungs were burning and my legs felt ready to collapse. At the same time, with all that travel to tournaments, I also learned a lot about personal responsibility. Traveling with a big group of teammates and only a few adults, it was expected that I would be able to take care of myself. Unlike at home, where I could always make myself a sandwich or shake when I got hungry, travel made it more difficult to get meals. I quickly learned to make sure that I always had a protein bar or an apple in my bag in case of traffic or a flight delay, because proper fueling is essential to my athletic performance. In hotel rooms, there was no one to tell me to go to bed on time, so I learned to turn off the TV early and set my alarm clock so that I would be ready to play my best in the morning.

Playing in basketball tournaments all summer also helped me learn to perform well under pressure. At school games and tournaments in the past, I always wanted to play my best, but at the big tournaments I played this summer, I felt like the stakes were much higher. I knew that there were lots of recruiters in the stands, so I worried that even the slightest mistake could affect my entire future. Whenever these concerns crept into my mind during a game, I could tell that it negatively affected my performance, so I developed a strategy of pushing these thoughts away and concentrating on the game, because I knew that staying mentally focused was the only way I would be able to perform well enough to make a good impression on recruiters.

Ultimately, I am extremely grateful for my summer experience, as it gave me the opportunity to further pursue my love of basketball and helped shape me into the mature young man I am today. So far, basketball has opened so many doors in my life, and I look forward to continuing to let my love for the sport shape me into the best athlete – and person – I can be.