As I apply for universities and figure out what I want to do in life, I think back abut how sports have changed my life. In my eyes, the next few months are critical for the furthering my education.
             All my dreams began in mid-August of 1993, the first time I had ever played organized basketball. As a tall, lanky, young thirteen-year-old girl I grew up around many boys so I was always a tomboy. Often I was asked if I was going to be the first woman in the NBA, but I never truly thought of the possibility.
             Throughout the following years, basketball and other sports I played gradually started to take up more of my time. I then began to truly understand where that orange ball could take me and what it could do for me. In high school, I was recognized on the street because of my athlete ability from which I got many awards and accolades. Because I thought that the ball would take me right into college, I studied very little. Soon thereafter, my problems began.
             Before long my grades began to drop because of my poor study habits, and some of my open-door opportunities closed. By the time I realized I could not just rely on basketball needed a good education, it was too late to get into the university of my choice, because of grades. However, I was still able, to get into a two-year school on a basketball scholarship. That is when reality set in.
             I am now a sophomore at a two-year school playing basketball, but I still have dreams of playing in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). IN addition, I have dreams of playing Division One basketball for an upper level university. Unfortunately all I ca say is that those are just dreams.
             As I sit here filling out numerous applications as if I were a regular student, not a student athlete, I think about all of the joys and pains I have experienced through basketball. If I do not get a scholarship and decide to hang up my jerse
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