Essay The story of growing up, and the many thoughts and problems you have on the way to your goals and aspirations. A Parents tale.
The world today is surrounded in much controversy and you really have to be aware of what is around you. That is were my understanding skills come into hand. Ever since I was little my parents always told me to watch the news and understand what I'm watching, I never understood why until I was ten years old and had my first basketball tournament in New York. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was playing in the semi-final game and I saw on the sideline this kid looking around like he was nervous or mad. I didn't think anything of it because I was ten, what could I possibly think would happen. Then out of the corner of my eye I see a guy come walking in with the same look on his face but the difference was this guy was wearing a police uniform.
English: Bird's eye panorama of Manhattan & New Yo...
English: Calvary Cemetery, Queens, New York.
TrevonHe walked up to the kid like he knew him so I figured everything was all right. Then the kid reached into his pocket and the cop tackled him everybody ran as more cops came rushing in and restrained the kid. It turns out the boy was carrying a loaded gun. He was only sixteen years old and was mugged on his way home from school so he took revenge on the kid and was going to shoot him. I asked my Dad why anyone would do that over money and his response I'll never forget was "different ways of life call for different actions." I thought about that for days to come and just kept that in the back of my mind. That line I felt will help me in years to come.
That line that my father gave me had a lot more meaning then I thought, but it really helped me in my next situation. I just finished my freshmen year of high school and was on my way to a Connecticut Starters basketball camp were I would be rooming with a inner city kid who attend this camp. My roommate went by the name Trevon he was 17 and from Queens, New York. At first he was not very out going but the way I am around people I'm able to make anyone feel at home so eventually I got him talking. He went on about how his life has been up and down. He had an older brother who was thrown out of the house by his father because they didn't get along and was then killed in a drive by. He then went on to tell me he tried to kill his father and ended up in something along the lines of a junior prison. In the back of my mind I was thinking wow I better not mouth off to this kid, He'll do a number on me. As the camp progressed I realized this kid was one of the nicest kids I have ever met. One night Trevon received a phone call from his father saying not to bother coming home. I didn't know about the phone call until Trevon came back to the room and I started to joke with him, but he started to cry. I couldn't figure out what was the matter until he said, "I wish my father would just disappear." Then right away I knew it was bad. Knowing how much Trevon loved the game of basketball and how hard he worked to accomplish what he did, I did not want him to just give up hope because of his father. So I did what my father taught me "different ways of life, call for different actions." I talked to the manager of the basketball camp and I was able to persuade him into paying the bus Ticket to allow Trevon's mom and grandmother to watch Trevon play in the all star game for the camp. I did not tell Trevon about it until the day of the game when he walked in the gym and I saw the smile come on his face, I didn't know how to react. Trevon that night came to me and said I couldn't have asked for a better roommate and friend. He then said " Thank You." Until this day I talk to Trevon and life has just continued to get better for him. A division one college is looking at him for basketball, and his mom and father divorced and live separately. His mother lives with his grandmother in Manhattan.
Though I never lived in that environment I was able to comprehend and solve a problem that a friend came across. All because I was able to react upon what I came across early in my life and that is "different ways of life call for different actions."
Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island, New Jersey
English: Rosenthal Library, QC
Panoramic view across Queens, New York, taken from...