Stay the Course

I was reading ESPN today (at work...don't judge me, lol) and I came across an article that hit really close to home (you can click on this link to read it -----> ( CLICK ME ).  The article is about redshirt ("redshirt" means that during his first year of college, he practiced but never played in a game and still has four years of eligibility to play once his "freshman" year is over) freshman James Johnson.  James is leaving school because he feels like he isn't getting enough playing time on the basketball court.  This happens to a lot of freshman every year but in the past decade or so it has become common place for freshman to see immediate action.  This hasn't always been the case though.

How this story relates to myself is that I transferred from my original college (Morgan State University) after my freshman year to another school (Frostburg State University).  As I stated earlier, freshman (at that time, the mid 90's) really didn't see a lot of playing time, any if at all.  I was fortunate enough to start though, as a walk-on freshman at a D-1AA now the Sub-Division level.  My situation was a little different though.  I left Morgan because after starting the entire year I was told that Division 1A players were transferring in and I would have to compete for my spot all over again...needless to say I wasn't too happy to hear this.  I thought that the school "owed" me something and would "show" them what they were missing after I transferred.

The point I'm trying to make here is that in life difficult times will arise and you have to stay the course.  I should have stayed at Morgan and played just as hard my sophomore year as I did my freshman year.  I feel as if James should do the same because the grass is NOT always greener.  I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Frostburg and made some life long friends there, but I definitely didn't display any kind of H.E.A.R.T by leaving.  In fact I showed the opposite.  I displayed fear and the sense of quitting.  I have no idea what thoughts are running through James' head, but I hope that he reconsiders and realizes that quitting now will more than likely set a precedence for the rest of his life of running away from adversity.  I learned that lesson the hard way and eventually stopped that trend.

Always remember, bad shit happens in life.  You can either try to run away from it, or face it and try to make the best out of your situation.  Bad situations are only as bad as you allow them to be.

P.S. I'm not a UVA fan, I just hate to see anyone quit...