Sophie Badgett 11-21-13
English 1 5(A)

An ideal welcoming place might be your grandparents’ house, a kitchen, your bedroom, or even a friend’s house. My place is the gym. It’s strangely comforting and pleasant; although, many people don’t think “tranquilizing” when they think of the basketball gym, most envision chaos and uncomfortable temperatures. This awkwardly lit, loud, dead floored place is my other home, and it wouldn’t be this way without three main factors: the people that fill it, the lessons I learn inside of it, and the pride and rush I get from the dedication and hard work preformed in the closed doors of this extraordinary place. The people that I spend the majority of my time with are my teammates, my coaches, and our fans. Everyday at practice you fight for your position on the court, but at the same time you have the rest of your team cheering you on and helping you out. You become family with your coach and teammates. You get to know each other so well you can learn what they are like on the court so your coach can have the perfect group of five. When it’s game time, after you have worked your tail off and earned a starting spot, and you get to experience the unforgettable feeling of your name being announced and the fans go crazy is why the hours of sweat in that awkwardly lit, loud, dead floored place was worth it. Life lessons are powerful and will help you a lot in life. Lessons from wise words, others mistakes, or even your own are helpful and prevent the same mistake from happening twice. Those days you get to hang out as a team for a couple of hours and listen to the stories of mistakes to aid you in the right direction. The gym holds more untold secrets than a sneaky teenager. No family member can hold in a secret about themselves while in the gym. It doesn’t make sense but its true. When you are the one telling your untold truths and