I scrambled through the door and ran straight for the kitchen that night with my overflowing school backpack on one shoulder, my soaking wet swim bag on the other, and of course, a rumbling stomach. It was already 8:30, so the rest of my family had already eaten dinner when I finally sat down to gorge after a busy day at school and a torturous swim practice. The house was quiet, everyone minding their own business and preparing for work and school come morning, but really we all had one thing on our minds: how many more days until winter break? However, in my mind, there was something else more important than the upcoming holiday season, I wanted to quit swimming and begin playing basketball. The last thing my parents needed to hear was that their little athlete was ready to say goodbye to swimming and hello to my real passion, basketball. How was I going to tell my parents what had been eating at my brain for so long? Was it the right time?

This was the most stressful time of year in our home. Even though Hanukkah had already passed, Christmas was around the corner, and that meant my mom was as grumpy as the Grinch. At her clothing and home goods retail shop, there were hundreds of gifts to be wrapped, shelves to be restocked, and customers lined out the door all frantically scrambling to finish their last minute Christmas shopping. While my mom was running around the store like a maniac, my siblings and I spent our weekends sitting in the “back room” like Santa’s little elves making boxes for the hundreds of gifts that needed to be wrapped for Christmas next week. Along with Christmas chaos at “the store” came up-roaring tempers, unnecessary arguing, and added stress.

The root of this idea for quitting came because I had fallen in love with another sport, basketball. I found joy in being on the court ever since I was in the first grade and my school friends and I joined a recreational team just for fun. Even though we had no clue what was going on, I found a passion for it instantly as soon as I came out of that first huddle. I felt like the sport was made just for me. I became attached to the sport and never wanted to put my basketball down, almost like a mamma bear and her cubs. I felt a rush when I picked up my basketball, and I never wanted it to end. Basketball fascinated me ever since I first took the court when I was six years-old. I believe that when you are on the court, you are allowed to explore your creativity with new moves, offensive plays, and defenses. The sport never gets boring because there is always something fresh and intriguing that I can be learning. It is hard for me to grasp that there is so much to learn about this sport, and that is what keeps me wanting to come back for more. Being in the pool just became a burden after that. I was willing to do anything to be in the gym and working on my skills, but instead I was stuck in the pool swimming for two and a half hours a day. The wear and tear on my body eventually got to me and became too much for someone who had another passion that was overpowering this one. I tried to find a balance that would accommodate for both my parents and myself, but that just seemed like a distant dream.

When I built up enough courage inside my ten year-old self, I reluctantly chose to puncture the silence of my house and tell my parents what I had been holding inside for some time now. I was correct, my kitchen broke into utter chaos, just like the “back room” at my mom’s store during the holiday season.

“You what?”, my mom said reluctantly with a poisoned voice.

“Do you know what you are getting yourself into here? Look at how hard you have worked for so long, and now you’re throwing everything down the toilet,” my dad exclaimed as he stared me straight in the eye.

Though they had never agreed to let me move on, my parents had already firmly glued a knick-name to my back; I was a quitter, which was unacceptable in our household. Amidst the screaming and crying, I began to question myself, my values, and whether I was in the process of making the biggest mistake of my young life. Our discussion was ended fairly quickly by my parents ruling of “no way”, as I expected, and I learned that I probably should not bring up the topic any time soon.

Even after I promised to keep my mouth shut, I felt like my family was slowly turning on me. The decision had not been made yet, but the fact that I had brought up the idea of quitting forced me feel like an alien in my own home. During this time, I thought deeply about what my parents scolded me for. They believed that I was giving up on a wonderful opportunity to be in a seclusive group of the best swimmers in the state of Oklahoma. They said I was going to leave a place where I could learn to be self disciplined, keep order, and how to work hard, but all for something I did not love. Quitting was looked at as a disgrace in my family, and I was the only one who dared to go near that extreme.

After seeing what I had attempted, my younger sister, Bella, was beginning to share some of the same ideas as myself. Even after all I had been through on that dreadful night, Bella decided to run her ideas past my parents as well, which turned out terribly. When she expressed her thoughts of taking more time to play other sports, her “rebellious” ideas were blamed on her role model at the time, me. Though I agree that quitting is not the best thing to be setting an example of, I was showing my sister how to stick up for herself and her ideas. The tedious sport was tiring on our bodies, and both of us wanted some change and freedom to play basketball, something we both enjoyed and had a compelling interest in. However, Bella was not as athletic as our older brother or I, but swimming was something she was truly good at. She claimed a love for basketball, but swimming was something she had made such successful progress in. She was only saying she wanted to quit to be more like her sister. Swimming was the only sport Bella had a bright future in, and now she was giving all of her hard work up all because of me. Bella let her emotion blind her passion, but it was not her fault according to my parents, it was mine.

After a plethora of more sleepless nights and hopeless arguments, my parents finally agreed six months later to let my sister and I both focus on interests other than swimming. Though basketball did not work out for her, Bella developed a love for Crossfit, a strength and conditioning program, and has found great success and passion for it. She has developed a love for a unique sport that sets her apart from other kids her age. I am very proud of her and support her as she continues to work hard and improve her overall strength and health.

As for me, basketball has become my life now, and I play for a competitive AAU basketball team. Playing competitive basketball put me on the path to become the best basketball player I can be, which is my goal as far as my athletic future. Being in such a competitive atmosphere has taught me self discipline, raised my confidence as an athlete, and has brought my childhood dreams into reality. None of these wonderful qualities and experiences would have been shared with me without my amazing teammates and coaches who have been there with me the whole way. Even after rough practices full of shouting and LOTS of running, I know my coaches are pushing me to my full potential because they care about my success. My teammates, who have endured these tough practices with me, are now some of my best friends who continue to push me everyday to get better. Without them, I would not be where I am today. Basketball is my passion, and it always will be.

As I look back on what seemed to be a mistake at first I made in my earlier years, I could not have been happier with how it turned out. Giving in to the idea of quitting stretched my ten year-old mind past its capacity to think. It made me wonder beyond just giving up a sport, but whether my life was going to change for the worse. What once seemed like a grand plan turned into something that haunted me for some time thereafter, but in the end it made my life what it is today. I will never regret the times when my parents looked poorly upon me for my choices because it led me to pursuing my dreams, and that is why quitting swimming to play basketball will always be my favorite mistake.