Joshua Henry '20 Recruiting Profile

    I’m in what had to be the most cramped room you would ever see in your life, sitting all the way in the back of a room filled with around two dozen boys, all taller than me. Coach begins to talk and I remember the first thing he said was “ If your grades aren’t good don't even bother trying no matter how good you are”. 

         This is it I might have a shot these guys aren’t going to do well(“ that’s where I went wrong”). Fast forward 2 months, it’s the second day of tryouts my name is called. I am told to go inside of the office, my heart immediately skips a beat and as if it wasn’t hard to breathe because of how tired I was. My heart was in my throat and by doing all of that thinking I did not realise that I was already in the office. His blue eyes looked straight into my soul shaking it, disappointed he said “ Josh, Josh, Josh” once those words came out his mouth I felt dizzy and light, FAILURE. All my life I was good at everything I touched and did, I make friends easily, I pick up the material in school very quickly, and I was always a decent basketball player. So why, the thought was a burden on me and it showed, my grades took a dip that week and I wasn’t really talking to anyone. “I can’t let it get to me” is what I told myself one day and did what I knew best, work. I remember going to the gym through all of 10th grade everyday. It was a simple plan but it took a while to get use to because I lived in Queens traveling downtown for school. My part of Queens wasn’t the best it was plagued by gang violence, I was lucky to not be dragged into. Living in Brooklyn most of my life has taught me that keeping to yourself was best. Coming home from the gym everyday all I was looking forward to was to hear something sizzling in the pot because of the vegetable oil, I had no energy to do anything other than take a shower and eat. Doing this everyday lead me to start doing all my homework after school study sessions where I could always get help. My grades shot up through following this schedule and I saw the results, a year later tryouts never felt easier. I now hold myself to the standard of working hard everyday because now that I have seen the results I know that anything is possible for me. 

            This experience changed a major flaw in me, I am now more calm and collective I take the path of the tortoise over the hare. Slow and steady wins the race and that's the motto I live by coming into college, if I rush everything and move fast I will only trip and fall going forward. Basketball especially has showed me this, if you move very sporadically you will only lose the ball and eventually the game if you take your time you will get any shot you want and win the game. I apply these simple rules to my everyday life and it helps me a lot, I am way more organized and I get my work done on time. I am confident my rules and motto will allow me to excel in college. Especially with my major being computer tech, if you rush things in classes like that you won't ever get it right and end up stuck. Playing basketball in college and having a major like computer science will allow me to stay focused in college. They directly correlate with each other, this will better my time management and efficiency of producing good work.