Dear Cardston High School Gym,
Thank you,
Thank you for being the first place I made friends when I moved here seven years ago. I attended a basketball camp, one of many you have hosted, and met some lovely people who shared my love of the game. These people I first met there are still some of the best friends I have and I am still close to them.
Thank you for teaching me about patience. I have realized that the game takes hours upon hours upon hours of work to become better, and that it doesn't come overnight. My shot won't be 100%, but it is better than it was when I started shooting. The world right now seems to think that everything needs to come fast, or it isn't worth it, but you taught me otherwise.
Thank you for teaching me to work hard, and not just hard, but harder than everyone else. I refuse to be outworked, and part of that came from you. Sometimes that work is put in alone, and sometimes it is when Coach (whoever that might have been over the years) says, "On the end line." I have dreaded those words for years because of what was coming next, but I will miss it, because that end line has been where the success of any team I have been on has been earned.
Thank you for letting me fall, and teaching me how to get back up. I have rolled ankles, hit my head hard, and left copious amounts of skin on your floor, and I appreciate you being kind enough to let me fall. It may have hurt both of us, but now I know that regardless of what occurs in my life, I will be able to get back up, and keep fighting. I have taken my fair share of falls on the basketball court, but they haven't been in vain.
Thank you for giving my teammates and I a place to bond. I don't know how many times I have been nearly on the floor from laughing so hard, or how many buckets of sweat I have shed, or how many tears have fallen in an effort to make each other better, and be there when one of us needs the others. We have each others backs no matter what.
Thank you for letting me interrupt your quiet moments. I know they are few and far between, as you are used for many, many hours a day, but those times where it is just me are wonderful. Bounce, bounce, two feet landing and taking off again, ball released, net snapping, repeated over and over and over. There's something special about that, something therapeutic, something that makes me feel the energy that lives in you, something that makes me feel strong again.
Thank you for always being there for me. Whether it be the morning after a loss, or one of the times I felt like that was the last place I wanted to be, or when I felt broken, or when I needed to relieve some built up stress, you have always been there, steady and consistent.
Thank you for being there for my teammates. It doesn't matter if we are going through breakups, or insanely hard classes, or health problems, or tough family situations, you are always there, ready for our chaos.
I feel the same energy inside you when the gym is packed and the crowd is wild and the score is close, as I do when I walk through on the way to class. It's just part of the magic, and the spark ignites regardless of the situation. I'm going to miss being inside of you every day, as my basketball career is coming to a close.
Thank you.
