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Running Head: OVERCOMING CRUSHED DREAMS
1
Overcoming Crushed Dreams
Bailey Schartz
Kansas State University
Running Head: OVERCOMING CRUSHED DREAMS
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Live Event:
The end of my junior year of high school was coming to an end. My coaches
and parents were blowing up my phone, continuously asking me if I was in the gym
or in the weight room. I was tired of answering them so it eventually turned into me
ignoring them by not replying. If I would of known then what I know now, I would of
never done such a thing. The summer came to approach and nothing had changed.
Yes, I was in the gym and weight room here and there but definitely not as often as I
should have been. Everyone wanted me working out so much because they knew I
could take something I love to the next level and be successful at it. Playing
basketball was a ritual for my family. Growing up attending my older sisters
basketball tournaments then eventually my own, was something I lived for. I wanted
the weeks to fly in the summertime because I knew the weekends meant we were
going to be on the road somewhere playing ball. However, it was the summer before
my senior year. I knew I only had one more year with my classmates, best friends
and teammates. I wanted to make the most of it and spend all the time I had making
memories with them and wasn’t focused on my future at all. This disappointed a lot
more people than I could ever imagine. I would wonder why my parents treated me
like they were ashamed in me. Finally, one night after a workout, I hung out in the
gym for a while after and finally realized what I wanted out of life.
I knew I had to make changes to fulfill my dreams so I didn’t hangout with
my friends as often and was in the gym 5 days a week and lifted weights 4 times a
week. After doing this all June and July I saw a change in my body. I could tell I was
getting stronger and quicker. I continued these workouts until November when
Running Head: OVERCOMING CRUSHED DREAMS
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basketball practice started. Coaches saw a huge improvement from me and told me
after the first week of practice that scouts were already looking at me. I was
shocked, how did I catch college coach’s attention so fast. I averaged 15 points per
game and 6 assists throughout the whole season. We made it to the championship
round of our sub-state. This was the game I lived for, knowing if we are going to
represent our school name at the state tournament or not. It was a close the whole
game and we were tied going into the fourth quarter. I remember the exact play and
exact time on the board when I went down. 6:29 was the last second of basketball
that I ever played. I was driving into the paint to lead by 2, but the next thing I
remember is lying on the floor in pain. My basketball career flashed before my eyes.
Lying in the hospital getting x-rays and waiting to here news seemed like a lifetime.
After getting the results back from my MRI, everything anyone said to me went in
one ear and out the other. I tuned out anything anybody said to me. I asked myself
on a daily how come it had to be me. I finally figured out what I wanted to lead my
future with and all of the sudden it was like someone took my dreams away from
me. I had plans to sign with a school a week after state basketball, but the only thing
that was holding me back was which school I wanted to represent, Washburn
University or Missouri Southern. After the coaches from those two schools heard
about my injury they called me on the daily. I didn’t pick up that often, but then they
started contacting my parents to get ahold of me. I didn’t want to talk to anybody,
hearing that I blew out my knee and there was only a 20% chance of it healing
correctly so I could exercise again shattered my heart. Washburn still was interested
in me being a manager, but I thought it would kill me too much to watch those girls
Running Head: OVERCOMING CRUSHED DREAMS
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that could have been my teammates play ball. I had no other choice than to decide
on a new future. This is what eventually brought me to k-state. I wanted a new
dream and it was a place I always loved so I decided to attend school here.
Life Event Analysis:
I must admit, when I first got the news about my knee I wasn’t too talkative. I
didn’t treat people with respect the way I should of. The amount of get-well cards
and flowers I got was absurd. After graduation I was already looking forward for
school to start because it was a new beginning. A couple weeks into summer and
after my second surgery on my knee I got asked to coach the freshman girls summer
ball team. My first instinct was to decline, but after they asked me a few more times I
decided to do it, because if I was busy I figured my summer would go by much more
