There are three lessons that I have learned and want to leave behind to those at FCHS. 

The first lesson that I have learned is to never hold back. What I mean is that when you do something you should do it all the way and with full confidence. The worst spot to be is in the middle and I learned this lesson while being on the basketball court. In practice I was playing in a way that would make me liked by everyone instead of playing in a way that was actually good for the team. What I Mean is that when the intensity was at a level I was displeased with I didn’t say anything and tried to just “work harder” than everyone else. I came to realize that I was only doing this to protect myself with an image of being a hard worker. When It came to actually working hard in the game I was unable to do it successfully because all of my hard work had been for performance purposes. If I had chosen to never hold back I would have probably said something to everyone but more than that I would have actually worked to the level I thought was necessary. I have actually worked hard before and it makes people uncomfortable. In this season I was working hard enough to look better but not hard enough to cause tangible change and actually make it to where I want to go. To Truly be invested in something you have to put your heart into it and I Realized this year that I was not using my heart in basketball or in really anything. It is hard to use your heart because you can be let down and disappointed but it is the only way to truly tap into your potential and obtain all that God has for you. 

The second lesson I have learned while going to Foothills is that consistency in character is the only way to grow. If you truly want to cement a legacy then worry about who you are becoming. Who you become is far greater than how you look or what you do. In school at lunch time I would find myself asking what I should do and I had kept feeling like I should  go out and talk to people in the quad. There is nothing wrong with talking to people in the quad but I had to check myself and check my intention. The problem was that my intention was to know more people so I could become more popular. If you are a celebrity and you want to get more youtube views than I guess this is the way to go but if you are a basketball player trying to make it to the league then you should be fully focused on how you're gonna get there.This is when I realized that I was no using my heart because when things got hard I would reject the emotions of sadness and disappointment and instead self-sabotage in order to salvage my feelings. This worked for me as a child in order to protect myself from being hurt but it does not work now in me wanted to be the best basketball player I can possibly be. 

This goes on to the third lesson I have learned which is to be who you are. We have goals and aspirations of wanting to become more and be greater, but we are where we are. I had fallen into the trap of trying to be something that I was not. I wanted to be a kind, strong gentleman who was disciplined and worked hard so I pretended like I was that way.  The problem was that my outside changed while my inside stayed the same. That is not to say that you can’t do good things when you don’t feel like it, but it is more to say that if you are a bad person than don’t act like you are good. Here is an example; I go out and workout for hours and many would say that I am so dedicated to making it to where I want to go. Coach Hawk had asked me a crucial question though and he asked if I really think working out all that time is going to help me. I had been working out like that for a long time and I was still the same player that I was before. I was doing the same workouts because that's what I was used to doing, not because I thought that it was actually what I should be doing.  Now when people would ask me how I workout like that I would act like I am humble and dedicated when really I wanted to brag. It would have been better for me if I had just told them that I work out cause I want to look good and that I just want to be stronger and better than everyone else. I could grow from this because it is the truth and I would them move into honesty rather than putting on a show and trying to look like something other than what I actually was.