Cultures

  Throughout my life I have been involved in a bunch of different cultures, but theres a few that really stick out to me. I have been playing basketball for about 10 years now, so I have been around many  different coaches and players throughout my career. The culture difference between my high school basketball team and my collegiate basketball is entirely different and it was something I was not quite used to during my freshmen year when I was just getting my feet wet in college basketball. In high school I basically did whatever I wanted, I can show up late to practice or not come at all and still play the entire game on game day. I didn't go to class if I didn't feel like it but I did get my work done. I thought I was the king of the school, well me and my teammates all did. We were beating teams by 30 points or better which is why we thought we were so cool. Nothing was mandatory in high school, it was more like if I felt like doing, I did it. The coaches had great basketball minds, but did not discipline the team nor were they ever strict and make rules to keep the team in check. I was surrounded by great players but they were all lazy and had bad attitudes and never wanted to do things together as a team.

When I got to college it was a completely different beast I was dealing with, almost like a rude awakening message from god telling me that this will not be easy. Everything was so organized and constructed which clearly I was not used to. To me it felt like I was literally in the basketball military and having a high intensity coach made it even worse. The culture of the URI basketball team is one that I will never forget because it has built and still is building the man I am today. The first day I got to campus my teammates already knew who I was and they made me feel very comfortable as if I was there for a year already. I saw that this team was a true family which I certainly was not used to in high school. All the things I got away with in high school I would get suspended for now. If I was late I would have to get up at 5am and run 5 miles every day for a week and if it happened again I would be suspended for 2 weeks. They even checked classes to make sure we are getting our education so skipping class can never be an option. After practice we had mandatory study hall for 2 hours including class after. If any of my teammates from high school came to this program they would have been sent home in the first two weeks. The culture in my collegiate career is preparing me for the real world whereas the culture in high school prepared me for failure.

From Home to College

I had never traveled alone or had any type of independent traveling experience until my senior year of high school graduation ended. Since I play basketball here at URI I was required to attend both summer sessions to take classes as well as complete preseason workouts during the summer sessions. This was not my first time away from home, but it was my first time interacting with new people while I was totally independent. I had butterflies in my stomach the entire ride from New York to Rhode Island. I had all types of nervous and panicking thoughts in my head such as "what if I don't fit in with my new team?", "did I make the right decision to come here?", "what if my coaches don't like me?". I honestly didn't think I was ready to live without my mom around but at the same time I was excited to finally have some freedom and start maturing. Soon as I pulled up to my dorm about five of my teammates came up to me and welcomed me with open arms and were excited to see me. They immediately helped me with my bags and introduced themselves to my parents. They made me feel comfortable and as if they knew me before I even got there which really helped me for my first couple of weeks away from home. I guess once I got to campus I wasn't completely independent because I had a whole roster of teammates to show me around and tell me what I should and shouldn't do or who and what to stay away from.