Alvaro Palma
Psychology
TWTH 10:30am-1:10pm
The ComebackBasketball is the only sport I love and enjoying playing. Since I was kid all I would do was watch the Los Angeles Lakers and my idol Kobe Bryant play. I would even pretend as If I was shooting a basketball by throwing my basketball at a wall. My mother eventually ended up buying me my own basketball court, which was the only thing that mattered to me at the time. I was a kid that grew up a rough area and hung around with wrong type of people. Time went on I started to join many basketball teams and leagues, until one day I didn’t make the cut for a team I especially wanted to play for. I was cut from my high-school basketball team my freshman year. That was the day that changed everything for me.
After getting cut from my high-school basketball team, it some how was a positive outcome for me physically. For some odd reason the coach had ended up explaining to me that he didn’t think I was a right fit for the team because of my height. There are many short players in the NBA, but unfortunately the coach didn’t seem fond of them. While trying out for the team I was performing well doing everything right but I just wasn’t receiving any recognition due to my height. It was frustrating to experience that and hurtful because there was no way of control my height. My freshman year I was a bit overweight but I was still a very well rounded basketball player. I was already quick, strong, and had explosiveness to my game. I had decided to practice my conditioning a bit more and loss a pretty good amount of weight while doing so. I even started to lift weights and fell in love with it. My weight loss caused my cholesterol to lower as well. I felt healthier, more energized, and full of life at the end of it.
In a cognitive perspective the situation rubbed off mainly negatively. While focusing on my game and trying to become the best I can be, all my focus was on basketball and basketball only. I began to fail most of classes and wasn’t focusing on my studies enough as I should have. I ended up being punished by my parents in the long run and eventually prevented me from playing the game of basketball that I loved. My sophomore year of high school was embarrassing because I ended up having to retake most of the classes I had failed with new coming freshmen instead of taking the classes I needed with the friends I had. As my sophomore year went on I focused more on my studies and passed all my classes with high passing grades, which continued on with the next two years of high school. I started to surround myself with positive people that were searching for a better future as well. I ended up realizing how important my education was for me. I was finally intrigued and inspired to go to college to pursue my career in dentistry.
Finally in a socio-emotional perspective I was affected both in a negative and positive way. Making new friends was difficult because all I would want to do was play basketball after being cut while most kids were going to parties or involved in other activities. While playing basketball I was so competitive and had such a killer instinct mentality while playing with the little friends I had, that it even pushed them away as well. All I wanted to do was get better and win against anyone by any means. I eventually became so isolated that I wouldn’t even go to family functions with them. I would be in the gym anytime of the week and day training. I especially became isolated from my mother. I felt as if we were so distant from each other that we couldn’t have a decent conversation and connect with one another. When I had first been cut I seemed to suffer from depression. I wasn’t eating much was making me unhealthy and I also found myself doing things that a young kid like myself shouldn’t have been doing. I was staying out late with friends drinking