SAVED ~ Kamaro D.

Basketball saved me

Before middle school, I was a terrible student. My averages were always in the low-mid 60%. This was due to me not giving my teachers much attention and not caring about my schoolwork. I loved being the class clown who would distract other kids just for a laugh. Every time my teachers stepped out I took that as an opportunity to show off and disrupt the lesson. Whether it was me making a silly sound, throwing my pencil across the room to pick it up, or just walking out of class. Generally, I just didn’t like school so I would do everything in my power to make school fun for myself.

The only thing I truly cared about was Basketball. Basketball was my therapy it healed me when I had the lowest moments in my life. Basketball was a way for me to make friends and for a way for me to stay active as a kid. Nowadays most kids stay inside and play video games but that just wasn’t me back then. I always wanted to improve in Basketball and compete against my friends. As the school year started we were told that to even be able to make the team you had to maintain at least an 80 average in all of your classes. Once I heard this, I felt a little disappointed but still very motivated. My love for Basketball was too great for me to just not even try to do better in school.

So from that day on when I heard that I needed at least an 80 average in every class best believe I gave it my all. It wasn’t easy at first because I didn’t pay attention to my previous classes so I was missing out on information I needed to know. I had to ask all my teachers for all the topics we covered since when they were teaching it to me I never really paid attention to the lessons. They were all curious about the sudden change in my approach to school. My math teacher Mr. Goorland said “Kamaro, for the past weeks you’ve been very disruptive and very disrespectful to me when I’m teaching the class. You made it clear that you didn’t care about your education. So my curious why the sudden change?” I told him I loved playing basketball I wanted to be on the school team and that I knew that no matter how good I was I needed at least an 80 average in all classes to even make the team. Once he heard this he smiled and said “Ahh I see didn’t know you took basketball that seriously.” Then he proceeded to give me all the topics he’d been teaching for the past weeks. I apologized to him for the way I’ve been disrupting the class and for the disrespect I gave him. He said all of that is forgiven and that we got a test coming up and the biggest way I could improve my grade in his class would be to pass that test. Once I heard this I instantly knew I had to lock in sooner than expected. I got home and went straight to YouTube typed in all the topics and started taking notes.

My mom walked into my room to check on me and she was speechless at what her eyes had laid eyes on. She never once saw me take school this seriously. Both my parents always tried to tell me that school was important and also that education was the key to life. When I was younger they put me in countless after-school programs to hopefully help me with my work since I was doing terribly in my classes. So seeing me finally put effort into school she was speechless and hugged me.

The next day in school I didn’t even think about being disruptive. All of my friends didn’t know who I was they had never seen me being quiet throughout the whole class. I got asked so many questions after class that they all assumed I was sad or something but I told them no I just was trying to pay attention to the lesson. After I said that they all laughed and said “Kamaro we know you, you don’t care about school.” Hearing this again made me realize that being the class clown didn’t do much for me and that I needed this change was needed. So I continued with studying and non-disruptive actions for the next couple of weeks.

Then it was time for the big test that could make or break my grade. I was very anxious about this test when it started I was staring off into space thinking that if I didn’t pass this I wouldn’t be able to even go to tryouts. Finally, I stopped staring into space and realized that I could do well because I’d been studying nonstop for the past weeks. Later on, I finished the test and I surprisingly wasn’t too worried because I didn’t struggle with many of the problems. So the next step to do was to just wait.

The next week we were given back our tests and I received an 88 I couldn’t believe it I never received a grade that high before I started smiling from ear to ear. Mr.Goorland was shocked by my fast improvements he told me that he was very happy for me and that I can do great things when I apply myself. After that class, I couldn’t wait to go home and show my parents because they’ve always wanted me to take school seriously so I knew they would finally be happy that I got this high of a grade on this test.

Once I got home I showed my mom and she began to cry and smile all at the same time. She said she’d been praying for me when it came to school and hoped I took it seriously. I hugged her and she began to put my test on the fridge then she ran to her phone and started calling all my family members to let them know what I’d done. Seeing my mom act this way motivated me to continue to want to improve in school. So I did I continued to bring back home great grades to impress both my parents.

Eventually, my first marking period grades came back and I had a total average of 83% for all of my classes. I couldn’t believe it I never had that high of a total average when it came to all my classes and tryouts were next week so I knew that I was all set to compete for a spot on the school’s basketball team. Unfortunately though during tryouts, I suffered from terrible knee pain it was hard for me to even move but I was moving all off power but still even the coach could tell I was suffering from pain. He then asked if I wanted to sit out but I said no because I knew with the work I put in I had to see it through. My determination wasn’t enough though because at the end of the day, he didn’t want any injuries players to start the season so I was a little sad that I didn’t make the team but I was determined to come back for 7th grade and try again. The crazy thing is I got a growth spurt the next year and went from 5’3 to 5’7 at the beginning of 7th grade and I made the team containing an 88 average in all my classes. In Conclusion, my love for Basketball saved me I realized that no matter how good I was it didn’t mean nothing if I wasn’t excelling at school at the same time. I am forever grateful to the game of Basketball it’s made me who I am today and without it, I probably still would be the same goofy kid who didn’t take school seriously.