Through Her Eyes: The Teenage Perspective Part 2

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Through Her Eyes: The Teenage Perspective is a short series highlighting the written works of two young students from Marshall School. During Marshall’s iTerm series, eight writers took a class with teacher (and Duluth Moms Blog contributor) Heather Call Holst called “The Art of Blogging to Empower Young Women.” They worked on communicating their thoughts through the experience of blogging. We are pleased to share with you a sample of the fruits of their labor–the heartfelt, humor-filled, earnest writings of women on the edge of adulthood.

Read more about Marshall’s iTerm classes in our post here.

5 Life Skills I’ve Learned From High School Basketball

Through Her Eyes: The Teenage Perspective Part 2 | Duluth Moms Blog
Grace is a sophomore student-athlete attending Marshall School. She has lived in Duluth almost her entire life. A basketball player for 10 years, the sport is a huge part of her life. When she’s not studying you can find her at the YMCA, at any local basketball court, or in her makeshift workout facility also known as her basement. She spends her winters playing varsity basketball for Marshall, and her summers competing with the Minnesota Stars all over the country to compete in tournaments. Her motivation comes from a family that consists of an intense and obnoxious father, a hard-working mother, and a 4-year-old sister who copies her every move. Besides basketball, Grace enjoys reading, writing poetry, and napping. Her only fear is not achieving the goals she sets for herself.

I’ve played high school basketball since 7th grade and, although I still have 2 years left to play, I’ve learned so much from the wins and losses and all the ups and downs in between. And everything I’ve learned are skills that I can apply to other areas of my life.

Do Everything the Night Before

I get to the gym, open my bag, and find one shoe. Or no water bottle. Or no jersey. Worst. Feeling. Ever. This happens when I am rushing out the door trying to get my stuff together. BUT, when I pack my bag the night before a practice or game, there is no way I can forget anything. Now before school, and before trips I take the necessary time to make sure I have everything.

On to the Next Play…

There are times when players will celebrate over a big shot, and while all that celebrating is going on, the other team is charging down the court. Often times, when players focus on small mistakes or successes, they forget the bigger goal at hand. If my teammates are upset about a play, you can always hear me yelling “Next play! Forget about it!” Basketball has taught me to forget what has happened and move on. You can’t move forward if your thinking of the past; I won’t dwell on a bad test score or a missing assignment because that will hinder my ability to move forward. It’s on to the next play in basketball and in life.  

Show Respect

I have learned to respect everyone on the court for different reasons. I respect the JV girls who come out and try their absolute best to win every game, even though they are fairly new to the sport. I respect my coaches for coming from work to coach some emotional and sleep-deprived athletes every day. I respect my opponents for giving me 100% effort. I have respect for our team parents for making spaghetti and brownies (our favorite!) before big games. Basketball has taught me to respect people not only for who they are, but for what they do, too. In my personal life this makes me look at people differently and recognize the little things people do.

You Get What You Put In

The summer before 8th grade was huge for me. Everyday I went outside and dribbled a basketball up and down the block until I was called in for dinner. That year I made varsity and had a critical role. My role was to dribble the ball up and down the court. And I was good at it–I managed well for only being an 8th grader. I wouldn’t have gotten to that level if I didn’t work as hard as I did. Basketball has taught me that you get what you put in. If you put in no effort, you get no results. But if you work when no one else is, you may start to see improvements. I take this into account every day. I use my bus rides to study, I talk to my teachers, I stay after practice to get 10 extra shots up. It is this extra bit of work I put in that I know pays off for me in the long run.

Enjoy the Ride

High school basketball goes from November-March. That’s 5 months of going to practice every day AND playing games, sometimes 3 hours away. It’s easy to get overwhelmed. But I have learned to love the wins and losses, the national anthem before games, hearing fans in the bleachers, the bus rides, the locker room antics, and yes, even being yelled at by coaches. I wouldn’t want it any other way. I take this skill with me through boring family reunions, car rides, and even while doing the dishes, I don’t like these activities, but I have learned to love them because this time is limited.

Thank you for reading the posts in our Through Her Eyes Series. Bravo, Marshall students, for sharing your thoughts with Duluth Moms Blog.

This series was sponsored by Marshall School. We enjoyed collaborating with them on this special perspective series. Thank you to both Marshall School and the girls who worked hard on this project during iTerm.