A beginning... that is what this is. I have never been a blogger and rarely read blogs, but somehow I wanted an account of what I was planning to do. I wanted to have an account of myself trying to play basketball overseas.
The story starts over Easter Break when I left school for the weekend to visit my relatives. Not having seen many of them over the last couple of years the conversations at first were what you would expect... How is school going? How was your basketball season? Are you ready to graduate? Do you know what you want to do after school? The last question was hard to answer, but nevertheless I would reply smilingly, "I don't really know."
What do you want to do? It was not really a new question to be honest and I'm sure a lot of people can relate to this fact, but I remember being asked this question multiple times while growing up. "A doctor, a lawyer, rich!" Those were pretty much the answers that I would always give when asked the question. My parents would be the first ones to say, however, that I have never really known what I wanted to do as a career path. Whenever they would ask me I would always just reply with a simple I don't know.
Over break, the repetition of replying I don't know to my family really got me thinking what it is that I enjoyed most and what I could see myself doing after school. As I seriously started thinking about my options, one idea stuck out far above the rest; playing basketball overseas. I had always kind of toyed with the idea, but never really had given it much thought. I didn't think that I could make it, because of the level of competition that overseas players play at. My first glimpse of playing abroad came this past summer when I got the opportunity to play for a USA D3 All-Star team in the Bahamas. Don't know if they will ever read this or not but shout out to all those guys who were along for the ride, that experience will be one that I will remember for the rest of my life. Little did I realize that this experience would plant a seed and become the basis for my want to play professionally overseas.
This being said, I know that the road will be hard and I will have to put in a lot of effort in order to get to where I want to be. Then again, when I was younger I was never good at basketball in the first place until I put my mind to it. This determination gave me the opportunity to play basketball at Carleton College, a DIII school in Northfield, MN, where I have met life-long friends and also received a great education. It also gave me the opportunity to grow as a player and person. From my freshman year of riding the pine, to my senior year being selected to the All-Conference team, the ride has been unbelievable and I have had some of the best times of my life.
Now, as I look towards the future I know what it is I want to do. It was under my nose my whole life, but I just didn't want to set myself up for possible failure. However the experience turns out, like I said at the start... This is the beginning of the journey, because I at least have to try to do something I love to do.
