Personal Reflective Essay To St. Francis

One of my activities that I am passionate about is basketball. I will use my basketball experience to add to St. Francis’ tradition of community, pride, and excellence by contributing effort to St. Francis. I know my level of effort really well because I have experienced a combination of bad and great effort in basketball. These examples helped me realize what I need to do to excel not just in basketball, but in school, and generally in life.
One example is that one basketball game I was tired, and I didn’t feel like trying, playing, or running at all. When the game started, I got pretty lucky on making some of my ill advised shots. I scored eleven points, but wasn’t proud of myself. I wasn’t hustling on and off the court and my defense was
lacking. I noticed that I wasn’t trying hard and I wasn’t putting my best effort in.
A couple of games later, I was ready to play and eager to win with a lot of energy. The game started off pretty well. I had two points and was doing great on defense. I had a lot of steals and my face was red and was sweating. I ended up on the floor often since I was fighting for the ball and wanting to score, even though I got knocked down a few times. I helped my teammates score, and we had a great game. I was really proud of myself, and I enjoyed that game the most. I felt a sense that that was my best level of effort and knew that that’s is what I should be proud of. I knew that I didn’t have to be the hero by scoring most of the points, it was that I helped my team score together with my full effort. Even though we lost that game, I was really proud of myself because I put my best effort in.
This past summer, a few months later, I wanted to continue my level of effort, so I attended the St.
Francis middle school summer camp and the basketball camp there as well. The basketball camp they had there really influenced me. They had a quote of the day which I found interesting. One of the quotes they stated made me think and search my soul. The quote was E+R=O. This meant that the event + my response = the outcome. I thought this over for a long time and realized that it applied to me. I talked about it to my parents and that’s when I realized that I matter and what I do can change the outcome. One example that I have used this equation, is when I was about to start Eighth Grade, and I didn’t really have a plan for how I would get my summer work finished and how I was going to be organized. For the past couple of years, I didn’t think I needed to organize that well to get good grades. This strategy didn’t work. So before the start of Eighth grade, I wanted to have a specific plan that would help me organize and be prepared for the upcoming school year. This strategy helped me get better grades and excel further in life. I thought this strategy changed the way I respond to things, and help me get better outcomes later.
Over these experiences, I have learned the true meaning of effort and have discovered my best effort, as well as the thought that I truly matter and that I have a voice. I will use these experiences at St. Francis, by bringing the mindset of working hard
and that I truly matter, and to encourage students and teachers to work their hardest. Overall, I think these values will definitely achieve St. Francis’ goal to educate hearts and minds to serve the world.