Hey everyone, can you tell me what you think of my supplemental essay for Stanford? :)
What matters to you and why?
The characteristics I try to embody in my life matter to me greatly. These characteristics include hard work, perseverance, teamwork, and overcoming adversity, and they have all been taught to me through my experience playing basketball. When I was 8 I decided that I wanted to play basketball competitively and tried out for my local team. Unfortunately I was not very good and the coach had no qualms cutting me after tryouts. This then happened again the next year, and the year after that. 3 years later I went in again thinking "this is definitely the year" and sure enough, it was! It was the year that they introduced a B team for all the kids that didn't make the A team, and I was chosen for that team. For 5 years after that I never did make the A team, but the lessons I learned with my team and the journey I took to not make the A team is what made me who I am today. That whole saga taught me that, "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted" (Randy Pausch). For the record, I used to be both short and slow which made playing competitive basketball a challenge. Because of this I was unable to score very easily on my own, so I made it my mission to help my teammates score, and passing my personal niche. This chapter in my life taught me both how to deal with adversity, and that by helping others you can help yourself, as my passing gave me the playing time that I truly desired. This brings me to another lesson basketball taught me, which is that talent wins games, but teamwork wins championships. This is consistently proven in the NBA, most recently in the 2011 finals when Dallas beat Miami. Miami was widely considered one of the most talented teams ever assembled, yet Dallas' superior teamwork and experience allowed them to take home the championship. Being a student of the game of basketball has made me a better person for it, and all the characteristics that I try to embody have been taught to me by basketball
What matters to you and why?
The characteristics I try to embody in my life matter to me greatly. These characteristics include hard work, perseverance, teamwork, and overcoming adversity, and they have all been taught to me through my experience playing basketball. When I was 8 I decided that I wanted to play basketball competitively and tried out for my local team. Unfortunately I was not very good and the coach had no qualms cutting me after tryouts. This then happened again the next year, and the year after that. 3 years later I went in again thinking "this is definitely the year" and sure enough, it was! It was the year that they introduced a B team for all the kids that didn't make the A team, and I was chosen for that team. For 5 years after that I never did make the A team, but the lessons I learned with my team and the journey I took to not make the A team is what made me who I am today. That whole saga taught me that, "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted" (Randy Pausch). For the record, I used to be both short and slow which made playing competitive basketball a challenge. Because of this I was unable to score very easily on my own, so I made it my mission to help my teammates score, and passing my personal niche. This chapter in my life taught me both how to deal with adversity, and that by helping others you can help yourself, as my passing gave me the playing time that I truly desired. This brings me to another lesson basketball taught me, which is that talent wins games, but teamwork wins championships. This is consistently proven in the NBA, most recently in the 2011 finals when Dallas beat Miami. Miami was widely considered one of the most talented teams ever assembled, yet Dallas' superior teamwork and experience allowed them to take home the championship. Being a student of the game of basketball has made me a better person for it, and all the characteristics that I try to embody have been taught to me by basketball