The day when I tore my ACl i couldn’t believe it. It seemed like a dream. I went to multiple doctors and hospitals and the doctors weren’t sure of anything. I was sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office. I asked my mom to buy me a new mouthguard for football because mine was broken but if only I knew there would be no football or basketball not even baseball. I went into the MRI and it showed that the three main ligaments in my knee were all torn: my ACl , lateral Meniscus and Medial Meniscus. I didn’t believe it. I was in shock. I had to get surgery. My freshman year of sports was over. I thought I would be back in no time and that I could recover faster than most people. I was very wrong.  I woke up early Tuesday morning and my knee felt great arguing with my parents. I said “do i even need this surgery?” I did need it. After the surgery I didn't sleep for 3 days screaming and crying in paint. I stopped thinking about everything and my mind went blank. I finally fell asleep. I woke up to get my day started but everything was different. I had to crutch out of bed and I didn't see the upstairs of my house for weeks until I learned how to hop up stairs. 

 I went to school weeks later crutching around the hallways, my knee throbbing in pain and sweating from crutching from class to class. During the 6 weeks I couldn't walk I told myself I would never take advantage of any opportunity or anything I could do that I can't now. My friends seemed to think this whole thing was funny and they had no idea what I was going through. I became ruthless and I stopped caring about other people's thoughts of me. I didn’t have a way to deal with my emotions so I just bottled them up but later they all went away and I didn't have emotions anymore and all my sympathy for everyone was gone. Myself was my only focus and in that moment it was the right decision. When all those emotions went away they never came back. 

Anger is the only emotion that stayed. This injury didn’t go away. I was mad. Mad at my teammates, my friends and at everything. I stopped caring about everything. I never shared my thoughts or talked to people about myself anymore. The only time where I showed emotions was when I was alone in my room in the middle of the night crying. Sitting in my room crying made me realize that the most important thing is staying true to yourself. Some say I'm selfish but I was the only one there for myself when I was at my lowest. I realized some people don’t deserve what I have to give. I separated and distanced myself from everyone and I actually liked it. I liked being alone and living my own way. I stayed close to my family. They were the only people that tried to help me and made me happy through this process. They were the only ones I needed.

Patience was never something I was good at and I learned how to be patient and wait for the moment. Imaging not being able to put any weight on one leg and getting sweaty and tired from crutching 10 yards it was hard. I knew all I could do was wait and if I did anything else I would have to repeat it all over again. 6 weeks wasn’t the longest wait. 9 months till i could play sports again. 9 months till I could do what has always been my favorite thing and was my escape from the world. This forced me to find other things to make me happy outside of basketball and other sports. So I got into puzzles and golfing but my love for basketball never left. Basketball was my best friend and I lost it. At 4 months I could start shooting a basketball again and I was doing it everyday for 2 hours. What i didn’t realize those 2 hours would make me so much better just shooting. I got very good and that's where my confidence came back to me. I was doing 1 on 1s against my friends undercover. It probably wasn’t the best choice but it scratched the itch that I was feeling since I got hurt.

I finally accepted the fact that I was out of sports for months and it took me a while to get to where I could accept it. I started only going to Physical Therapy once a week and became a lot stronger. I started to like working out and I would do it everyday outside of Physical Therapy. It made my days more productive and changed the way that I lived and I have the same routine today. I got so much stronger and I got cleared to jump and sprint. Right when I got that green light I was trying over and over again to dunk a basketball. I finally got it. The progress I was making was insane. I was the only one who knew it. I couldn’t show off my progress because I wasn’t allowed to fully play yet. This motivated me to get even better so when everyone sees me they won’t even recognise me.

Before I got cleared to play again  I made a list of all the things I wanted to accomplish. Most of them have to wait till basketball season comes around. I got signed up for a bunch of basketball camps and tournaments this summer because after being without it for 9 months now i don’t wanna be away from it again. I went to a basketball game the day after I got cleared and I dominated. In my mind I was thinking that the only thing that is stopping me from performing this good everytime is my thoughts and myself because that's how I did it, that's how I got through all this believing in me. People turned their backs on me but I didn’t. I stayed true to myself. That was all I needed. My confidence level was off the charts and there wasn’t a way to stop it. Every negative thought and comment I didn’t let it get under my skin.

This injury made me tougher mentally and physically. It showed me how to overcome adversity and to be patient. It taught me how to count on myself every time. It showed me that nothing is guaranteed and every opportunity is valuable. It showed me that the people who believe in you stay by your side through all the ups and downs and the ones who don’t only show up when you're on top. Most of all it showed me that I can do anything if I just believe in myself.  I lost a lot of things when I got injured but the things that I gained and learned from this will never leave my mind. Looking back on the injury I realized that this bad thing made me better at everything. I kept my promise. I was better than I was before the injury , A lot better. This injury shaped me into who I am today and I am glad this happened to me.