SHOT !

     Shoot, pass, rebound and shoot again. The same process was going on and on. I and my father were going through this same routine on a sandy school basketball court. I kept shooting to get the littlest feelings of the ball when the ball goes through the basket clean, not even touching the basket. After an hour of ceaseless running and shooting, the sound of my breaths became much harsher and my sweat was trickling down their body everywhere, wetting my whole T-shirt. However, I frowned, because I was dissatisfied with my shooting. I made many successful shots, but it was not enough for me. The sun was disappearing into the horizon, but my dad silently kept throwing the ball to me for shooting, saying “Keep shooting until you are satisfied”. When I made the 1000^th successful shot, I was finally done and headed home with my dad. And the next day, I made the winning shot in a very important game.

     I had never played basketball before I entered this high school, KMLA. I only played soccer with my friends for my entire school life. However, when I came here, one of my friends took me to the gym and introduced a new sport called basketball. It was kind of amazing to me at that time that a person can make a big like basketball to go through the small basket which is a little bigger than the ball. Since then, I started to practice every day. My dad who is good at almost every sport also helped me practicing in the weekends. Unfortunately, compared to my dad’s outstanding talents in sports, I didn’t have that much talent. I was depressed at first, because I was not improving that fast compared to my incessant practices. At that time, my dad reminded me of a very important fact which kindled my fervor once again. It might be easier at the beginning if I had the talent, but I didn’t have it. The only way left for me was to practice harder and harder.

     I practiced for a period little bit longer than a month and it was the day of the tryout of Crossover, the basketball club in KMLA. Only three were selected in this first tryout. I did my best, but it was maybe not enough for the senior to pick me as one of the member of Crossover. This time, I was not depressed at all. Rather, I started practice much harder out of spite. Along with my heavy academic workloads, I never skipped practicing basketball. It was exciting and I was thrilled to see myself becoming better and better at a slow pace as I practiced.

     After a few months, there was the second tryout which might be the last tryout. This time, the seniors picked 4 more members and I was one of them. I was so happy and I was able to confirm the universal truth that everything can be done with hard work and practice. This also gave me a huge confidence that if I try hard, then I can do anything.

     With this positive attitude underlying in my deepest minds, I started to do better in every projects I do. I worked harder and more enthusiastically in everything that I had to do. The slightest change in my thinking led to a much more successful life.

     It seems nearly impossible and is actually very difficult to shoot well at the first try. Some people think that the basket is too small for the basketball to go through. When I try something new like solving very difficult math problems, writing a report on physics’ experiment, or being a successful person in the society, it seems too difficult to achieve at the first try. Many people think that a way to success is too narrow and small to go through. However, with hard work and incessant practices, it becomes larger. The basket becomes large enough for basketball to go through, sometimes not even touching the net, and the way to success is wide enough for me and other people to walk through.

     I still practice shooting very hard. Plus, I started to practice dribbling and other stuff to improve my weak points. I will keep challenging and practicing with all my might to improve. I changed a lot during one year that I spent here in KMLA, but the only change that I made myself was maybe erasing the word ‘give up’ and highlighting ‘practice’ in my own dictionary. I will keep throwing the ball of my life and I firmly believe that it will go through the basket clean making the 'swish' sound that I like the most. And me shouting a single word, “SHOT!”