Just Fellow Bears, But With Athletic Talent: Part 2
Last night, I went to the gym to play some pick-up basketball with a few friends.
To my surprise, I ended up playing against players on Cal’s sports teams. It’s happened before, but this time was a nice highlight during dead week before finals.
In one game, I played against Richard Solomon, an up-and-coming power forward on the Cal basketball team. Haha I’d like to think I intimidated him into missing a dunk. But really, I was pretty damn scared when he came soaring in.
A little later, I played a game against a team of Cal football players, including star wide receiver Keenan Allen, potential starting quarterback Zach Maynard, receiver Kaelin Clay, and defensive backs Avery Walls and Isaac Lapite.
It was a little unreal to see Keenan, a star on the football field, across from me on the basketball court. He posted one of the top seasons by a true freshman wide receiver in school history last season, setting a Cal single-season school record for receptions by a with 46 catches for 490 yards, surpassing current Philadelphia Eagles player DeSean Jackson’s previous record of 38. I remember going crazy while cheering him on in his first college game ever, when he made a memorable debut in the season opener against UC Davis by catching four passes for 120 yards and scoring two touchdowns.
But all of these guys were straight-up athletes. Football field or basketball court, they could play. I’m convinced any of them could have played on the Cal basketball team if they chose that over football. They could run, jump, and shoot with anyone. Pretty insane.
So I was pretty excited when I held my own against them. I made a couple buckets in our game, one over Avery and another after pump-faking the heck out of Kaelin.
As college students, it’s easy to forget that the athletes we cheer for on the field aren’t that different from us. But off the field, they’re pretty much the same: taking classes, hanging out on campus, and playing pick-up basketball games with friends.
Would you risk something good for something better?
Tough call, but an easy one I think, at least at my stage of life. Gotta go for it.
Learning only comes through living.
Sometimes you have to take that leap.
Earlier this week, news broke that Osama bin Laden had been killed during a U.S. raid in Pakistan.
The immediate reaction many Americans had was one of joy and relief. The bad guy had finally been vanquished.
President Obama said that “justice has been done.”
10 years after 9/11, the tragedy of the terrorist attack is still fresh. The events of that day affected many and have changed lives forever. I am fortunate not to be included.
I understand the cheers for what seems like a large victory, but it’s hard for me to celebrate someone’s death. News of bin Laden’s seemed surreal when I first heard it. Big news for sure, but I didn’t know how to react. It felt weird.
Many Americans definitely had strong feelings about the news though.
Here’s video from the Mets-Phillies baseball game that night as word spread amongst the fans that bin Laden had been killed:
There is a pride in that crowd; a pride for the country they love; a pride for the Americans who were lost in NYC that fateful day and for those who bravely fight in the Middle East. It is quite the sight to see. It’s sort of inspiring to see people come together through a similar emotion, though it might not be one that I share.
This past Friday was the last day of classes in my undergraduate college career.
It finally sunk in today. This is almost it. I can’t believe it’s been four years already.
I have a few papers and finals to go, but in a couple short weeks, I’ll be walking across the stage at commencement, graduating from student to alumnus. Crazy.
I’m going to take some time to reflect on college. And try to frantically cross off things on my college bucket list. But oh geez, the real world’s coming fast…
In the midst of deciding next year’s Camp Kesem Berkeley Co-Chairs, I’ve come to realize just how stressful it is to choose.
My Co- and I are both seniors and will be moving on from college after graduation and camp in mid-August, so succession planning is definitely front and center. We’ve conducted every sort of interview the past few weeks, and we’re still deliberating and mulling over the potentials. It gets even trickier because we aren’t just picking one person, but two people, a team.
However qualified, the candidates are all my friends and have their hearts in the right places. Perhaps that’s what makes it so hard. It sucks to know that you have to let some people down, which I’ve had to do before in counselor decisions. But it’s even tougher now, because as current Co-Chairs, we are essentially making a decision for the future of the organization. We’ve seen all of these coordinators grow so much as leaders and people, and now we have to finally choose our successors.
It’s our one decision that will probably impact Kesem the most. I would hate to screw it up.
I’m confident we’ll make the right choice though. That’s what all these applications, interviews, yearlong observations, and hours of consideration are for. I’m sure whoever we choose will keep the magic of camp alive and well.
It has been an honor to be Co-Chair for Camp Kesem this year. I’ve learned so much from the role and wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.
I’m truly excited to be able to pass that honor on :)