Over the past month I have volunteered with a high school basketball team, which has challenged me mentally, physically and emotionally. The experience overall was great, and I am glad that I had the opportunity to grow a connection with these players. During the camp, I have improved in many areas in my life, things that will be helpful in the future. My communication skills improved and my leadership skills. I was able to take on a task where I was responsible for the outcome of the improvement of the players and the outcome of the camp. During these few weeks, I was able to meet some young players who I saw potential in. Seeing and meeting these young ladies, it felt as if it was me in high school all over again. They were so determined and motivated to learn. Their love for basketball could not go unnoticed. Throughout the summer, they were patient, consistent and hardworking. There were so many problems and situations that continued to pop up and came close to ruining our plans for this summer. With players who were both trained well and overachievers, we were able to overcome every obstacle that came our way. I am currently majoring in Exercise Science, which consists of being around a lot of athletes. My goal for this experience was to be able to experience hands on what I plan on doing in the future. Also, this opportunity enabled me to gain volunteer experience and hours. Although those were my main goals for this experience and I was able to achieve them, I gained so much more. Being able to work with these players and interact with them confirmed that I am in the correct field. I enjoyed every part of it, even being able to come up with solutions to different problems. From this experience I was able to gain better leadership and communication communication skills. I was able to learn how to be patient and encouraging. I became more comfortable with speaking out and taking charge of what needs to be done and corrected. Not only did I achieve my actual goals, I was also able to achieve lifelong goals. With this summer camp, I was able to grow a better connection with my old teammates from high school. We always worked together as a team on the court and now this summer we had the opportunity to work together as a team to help another team improve and grow a lifelong connection. Every problem that came our way we tackled together, moving forward and making sure the players were able to gain from the summer camp instead of having to worry about anything. Something that I particularly enjoyed about this experience was the connections we grew with each player. Each connection was different but special. We made sure that it was not always just about basketball, but also about learning how to connect and communicate with new people. Over this month we participated in team bonding activities, getting to know one another on a personal level.
