hoop dreams.

Dear Basketball,

Wow. You’re a babe. The stud of all sports you could say. At the same time, I wish I didn’t try to suck-up to every coach I ever had the pleasure to play for. ‘Cuz Lord knows I kinda suck now. Well suck is probably too strong of a word to describe someone who’s not too shabby at most sports.

But damn, something sure shattered my confidence that prevented me from becoming the player I had the potential to become. Maybe I was just shaken up too much as a child. So why do schools schedule practice literally every single day of the week instead of scattering some classroom sessions for kids teaching a class called: Learning Potential of the Player You Could One Day Become? What if a child’s parents aren’t wealthy or educated enough to afford or teach their kid how to get recruited in the first place?

I still sit and think on that one time I got caught with a copy of a gym key while playing basketball with some friends ~freshman year of high school at my elementary school gym. I can’t say that religion club was the best way to punish the kid in me when religion as a rugrat was clearly something forced on me since I wasn’t yet educated on any other religions at my Catholic grade school. This really makes me question society and the lack of freedom for students to explore, so they could eventually soar wherever their strengths lie.

So why is it that Chemistry was a strength of mine in high school, yet I was too scared to even attempt it at Yale? And why is it that Sex-Ed is only taught around 7th/8th grade in a super conservative fashion where they didn’t even touch on sex for a queer human?

So maybe it’s time to shift gears. Shake up the broken education systems. Allow those failing to recognize the shattered glass in classrooms to step down. Because students are innocently singing Miley Cyrus’ “It’s the Climb” down the hallways. Adults should securely hold a ladder in place for their children and allow their studious children to challenge their creativity – one step at a time – as they climb their way to the top.